PPS advances in the food services sector
PPS is a company specialising in a range of sectors linked to returnable transit packaging and equipment. This range includes plastic crates, tote boxes, plastic pallets and plastic pallet boxes, all returnable and reusable.
PPS has been providing its services to a range of customers in the food industry for a number of years now, concentrating on the meat, dairy and retail sectors. Typically the company supplies clients with returnable transit equipment, for example plastic nestable crates and plastic pallets. The client packs his products and sends it out to his customers, advising PPS through their proprietary online asset tracking system the volumes sent and the location. PPS then arranges collection of used equipment from third parties and returns it to one of their industrial wash sites, situated in the Midlands and at Grimsby. Once hygienically washed the equipment is either returned to the original client – the integrated loop system – or to the PPS equipment pool.
The food services sector is in the process of looking at sustainability throughout its supply chain at present and one of the driving forces is the replacement of single use packaging. Typically cardboard boxes have been the standard method of transporting the different types of produce from the growers to the processors to the distribution network. Cardboard boxes require to be assembled at source then disposed of at the end user. There is a cost to this added to the initial cost of the cardboard box itself, but critically there is an environmental impact associated with this whole process.
PPS offers an alternative – the use of returnable transit packaging and has recently started ongoing projects with a number of key companies in the food services sectors, mainly in fresh produce. PPS is working closely with these food sector businesses to provide an alternative to single use cardboard boxes. They recently commissioned a survey comparing the carbon emissions of using a single trip cardboard box versus a returnable plastic crate. This showed a remarkable 50% improvement when using the returnable packaging.
However, the key factor is commercial – using returnable transit packaging offers the client a marked cost saving when comparing the cost of a cardboard box against the trip cost for a plastic crate. The cost saving varies according to a number of factors such as volumes, geographic locations and seasonality.
PPS is now engaged in an active marketing initiative to discuss with other businesses in the food services sector how they may be able to work together to roll out further applications for the use of returnable packaging.
02/11/2011
