IFCO awards annual Sustainability Certificate to retailers and growers

written by IFCO SYSTEMS, 12th February 2019, in News

IFCO, the leading global provider of reusable packaging solutions for fresh foods, is awarding its annual Sustainability Certificate in Europe and North America. IFCO’s sustainability certification initiative was inaugurated in September 2018, when it was handed out to retailer customers in Europe and North America for the first time. This year, the certificate will also be given to growers. All companies awarded with the Sustainability Certificate will benefit from tangible and credible proof of their commitment to environmental protection and sustainability. IFCO is amongst the most sustainable logistics companies worldwide and leads the industry in corporate social responsibility (CSR).

Sustainability Certificate demonstrates environmental commitment

Today, customers increasingly value sustainable products and business practices. Retailers and producers awarded with the IFCO certificate are able to prove their environmental engagement and thus benefit from increased customer loyalty.

Furthermore, corporate sustainability goals are increasingly in the focus of company shareholders. IFCO’s Sustainability Certificate is a clear demonstration of environmentally friendly behavior to customers and shareholders alike.

IFCO started its Sustainability Certificate initiative in September 2018. This year, the certificate will not only be handed out to retailers but for the first time to growers, too. The use of RPCs makes a meaningful contribution to environmental protection. Thus, IFCO will share these achievements with its customers by awarding them with the Sustainability Certificate. Each retailer and grower customer will receive a certificate highlighting the amount of carbon dioxide, water, energy, solid waste, and food waste avoided by utilizing IFCO RPCs in its supply chain. These savings are based on IFCO’s energy and resource savings estimate.

"Growers are the starting point of the fresh food supply chain. Thus, they take on great responsibility in providing high quality, sustainable fruit and vegetables. By awarding growers with our Sustainability Certificate, we honor their environmental commitment. The certificate is a clear message to growers’ as well as to retailers’ customers and business partners. It shows that our customers are tackling environmental challenges in a tangible and measurable way," says Wolfgang Orgeldinger, CEO of IFCO SYSTEMS.

Annual CO2, energy, water and waste savings

IFCO is constantly monitoring the environmental benefits generated by its logistics concept, the IFCO SmartCycle™, which is based on the principle of "share and reuse". All IFCO RPCs are reused over 50 times during their lifetime, and at every cycle are put through a rigorous cleaning and inspection process before being delivered for the next cycle. Damaged RPCs that cannot be repaired are 100% recycled and used for the production of new IFCO RPCs.

Several studies have proven that the use of RPCs leads to savings in terms of CO2 (up to 60%), energy (64%), water (80%), solid waste (up to 86%), and food product damage (up to 96%), when compared with single-use packaging.

IFCO is constantly monitoring the environmental benefits generated along the SmartCycle™. In Europe and North America, IFCO business enabled the following savings in 2018:

  • 590,155 tonnes of CO2, equivalent to 320,471 fewer cars on the road in a year
  • 10.6 million cubic meters of water, equivalent to over 240 million five-minute showers
  • 37,840 terajoules of electricity, enough to power over 19.9 million light bulbs for a year
  • 303,980 tonnes of solid waste, equivalent to the trash produced by 223 million individuals per day
  • 54,075 tonnes of food product waste, equivalent to 90 million average meals in the world.

These benefits carry through to IFCO customers’ supply chains and represent a significant achievement for companies wanting to protect their fresh produce while still being committed to improving their sustainability performance.

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