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The days of children playing in a large empty corrugated box could be over if the Waste and Resources Action Programme (Wrap) has anything to do with it. Since 2005, it has worked with a number of retailers, including B&Q and Argos (see box), to develop returnable transit packs. In January, B&Q announced its plans to roll out multi-trip packaging for kitchen worktops across its stores.

Reusable packaging is an asset that has to be controlled, says Wrap home improvement retail programme manager Mike Robey. To start with, the pack is likely to be more expensive than single-use packaging so a retailer has to get as many uses out of it as possible, he explains. How quickly you can get the packaging back to the depot and reused also determines how many units of reusable packaging you’ll need to keep the system flowing, he adds. An additional benefit of reusable transit packaging is that it allows products to be easily returned in a good state.

Robey says Wrap initially underestimated the logistics required to operate a reusable packaging system. It’s important to carry out trials to ensure the operatives and warehouse teams understand the system, he says. He points out that it is also important to ensure that logistic contractors are incentivised to get as much reuse out of the pack as possible.

Weighing up the benefits
Kaysersberg, part of DS Smith, supplies the Correx inners of B&Q’s reusable transit pack for kitchen work surfaces, the Carrierpac. Managing director Mark Lightowler admits the cost of reusable transit packs could outweigh their environmental benefit. The decision to invest in returnable transit packaging needs capital approval, which makes purchase decisions more difficult, he says.

Outpace, the materials handling and packaging provider, owns the patent for the Carrierpac adopted by B&Q for its kitchen worktops. Director Tim Hutchinson says: The problem for us is we only make three sizes, 200x90cm, 300x60cm and 360x60cm – all for kitchen worktops. Once a company has decided to adopt returnable transit packaging, it is likely to require bespoke packs to fit the products being transported.

Mike Hartley, marketing and development manager at corrugated board specialist Encase, believes the increased interest in reusable packaging is simply a trend. If you’d asked me that question 10 years ago I would have said that it was the biggest threat to our business, he says. But these days the trend has moved back a little bit. In fact, the company has experienced growth in sales of its fanfold corrugated board. Fanfold is particularly suited to packaging bulky items such as furniture, pipes, kitchens and blinds as it produces a continuous sheet of board that can make all box sizes.

Green concerns
The environment is still the key driver for companies, explains Hartley. He points out that many retailers are under pressure to move away from polystyrene moulds and more and more people have a baler to deal with their waste board.

Hartley recalls a boiler manufacturer that came to him for a corrugated pack design that would remove the need for polystyrene. The resulting pack was made purely from corrugated board. According to Hartley, the company in question was able to list the resulting packaging on its ISO 14001 accreditation, which assesses a company’s impact on the environment. The removal of polystyrene also lowered the company’s insurance premium, as polystyrene can be considered a fire risk.

However, we cannot expect members of the public to have their own baler to deal with all this corrugated board. Single-use packaging does generally leave the consumer with the inconvenience of unpacking it, says Wrap’s Robey. And it may be too big for the recycling bins at home.

Most transit packaging goes through household recycling centres, according to Ealing Community Transport Group (ECT) managing director Andy Bond. Where we do collect cardboard packaging, and this is increasingly common in kerbside recycling collections, we require it to be presented in a way that can be handled by collection staff, says Bond. This would require it to be broken down and flattened for ease of handling, he adds. ECT will collect a pack as long as the public break the material down and leave it for collection in accordance with their local authority’s rules. However, Bond concedes that this may involve fitting the board in a particular container.

The government has also increased the rate at which landfill tax will rise, to make recycling more attractive than landfill. The landfill tax escalator, announced in 2002, stated that the tax would rise by £3 per tonne per year. However, in April of this year, it jumped from £24 per tonne to £32 per tonne – an increase of £8. This rate of increase is set to continue until at least 2011. Five pilot schemes have also been proposed under the Climate Change Bill to investigate the possibilities of charging for waste. The bill goes to the House of Commons for consideration imminently and a decision is expected by the summer.

In May, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Department for Communities and Local Government said these pilots would provide high-quality evidence to base a decision on a possible roll-out of charging for waste disposal, which could make reusable packaging more appealing to consumers. Where consumers at home have variable charging for disposals from their councils, this could encourage consumers to put less waste in their general bins and recycle more, says Robey.

Alistair Bromhead, environmental consultant to The British Furniture Manufacturers Association (BFM), says that single use is still dominant in the furniture sector. Bromhead points out that of the three players involved – manufacturers, suppliers and retailers – only the owners of the reusable pack will have a vested interest in the system. Competition from imports in the furniture industry also makes price a key consideration. Despite this, he says he would encourage members to use returnable packaging where possible, even smaller companies, as they may deliver their own goods, making returnable packaging easier to manage.

So, while reusable packaging could prove a worthwhile investment for those with the incentive and finance, ultimately the key question for companies considering its use is whether they have the logistics in place to control it. It was never acceptable to say you’d lost your homework at school and so in business it’s not tolerable to say you’ve lost your reusable transit pack. Therefore, on the whole, the flexibility and price offered by single-use transit packaging is likely to ensure its longevity and secure the future of the oversized cardboard box as a staple childhood toy.

CONSIDERATIONS
• Understand your supply chain
If you do not have a mapped process you will struggle to deliver a reusable system
• Involve stakeholders
Engage them in the process
• Be realistic about costs
Do not be swayed by peripheral benefits
• Deliver a closed-loop system
Any significant loss of reusable packaging will mean it will cost you more, not less, and deliver no overall benefit
• Don’t stop Develop ongoing monitoring systems and processes

Source: Jonathan Couper, packaging design and guidelines manager at B&Q

CASE STUDIES

B&Q
After B&Q’s chief executive appeared on Watchdog to talk about the amount of complaints received about the delivery of damaged kitchen worktops, B&Q worked with Outpace to develop the returnable Carrierpac. The plastic outer, produced by Storsack Dorton, covers the Correx inner supplied by Kaysersberg. Each pack has a unique number and is counted out and back in again. The original single-trip packs used by B&Q cost £3 compared to £35 for Carrierpacs, but the new packs have exceeded their initial target of 10 trips and one has made more than 50 trips, redeeming their initial costs and more. So far, the scheme has saved 1,100 tonnes of corrugated board and will deliver more than £250,000 of savings over this year.

ARGOS
Argos worked with All Purpose Packaging and Sansetsu UK to develop a bespoke reusable sofa bag for three-seater sofas. The resulting bags were an envelope of reinforced bubble wrap material, with a protective outer covering of low-density polyethylene (LDPE), and an inner lining of non-woven polypropylene tissue. The reusable bags delivered 5,762 sofas over the duration of the trial, which concluded that the bags could be used up to seven times. Each bag costs £15.99, or £2.28 per trip if used seven times. During the trial, 17 tonnes of plastic and cardboard packaging was saved. The Home Retail Group, which owns Argos, is considering whether this will be implemented on a permanent basis.