IFCO awards annual Sustainability Certificate to retailers and growers for the third year in a row

Munich, Germany, February 20, 2020: IFCO, the world’s leading provider of Reusable Plastic Containers (RPCs) for fresh food, is awarding its annual Sustainability Certificate in Europe and North America for the third time in a row. 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. Acknowledging the sustainability efforts not only of retailers, but also of growers, IFCO awards companies of both industries since last year. IFCO is amongst the most sustainable logistics companies worldwide and leads the industry in corporate social responsibility (CSR). Therefore, being awarded by IFCO proofs companies’ commitment to environmental protection and sustainability.

Sustainability Certificate proves environmental commitment

Not just since the public attention towards environmental and climate protection has dramatically risen over the past year, customers have been increasingly valuing sustainable products and business practices. Taking into account the increased demand for environmentally friendly products and processes helps retailers and growers to stand out from the competition and to ensure their customers’ loyalty. The IFCO certificate proves the environmental engagement of the awarded companies. 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.

After starting its Sustainability Certificate initiative for retailers in September 2018, and opening up the competition for growers the year afterwards, IFCO acknowledges credible and lasting sustainability efforts for the third year in a row. As the use of RPCs makes a meaningful contribution to environmental protection, IFCO shares 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.

“The use of RPCs ensures sustainability along the entire supply chain, from the growers to the retailers. By awarding our Sustainability Certificate we like to recognize the efforts of customers in both industries in reducing their environmental footprint. The certificate proves that the awarded growers and retailers are taking concrete measures to make supply chains more sustainable and to protect the environment. This commitment is increasingly important to customers as well as to business partners. Therefore, being able to prove this commitment is a decisive factor for business success”, explains Wolfgang Orgeldinger, CEO at IFCO SYSTEMS.

RPCs guarantee annual CO₂, energy, water and waste savings

IFCO is constantly monitoring the environmental benefits generated by its logistics concept, the IFCO SmartCycle^TM, which is based on the principle of “share and reuse”. All IFCO RPCs are reused between 30 and 120 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^TM. In Europe and North America, IFCO business enabled the following savings in 2019:

• 516,168 tonnes of CO₂, equivalent to 280,275 fewer cars on the road in a year
• 9.2 million cubic meters of water, equivalent to over 209 million five-minute showers
• 33,096 terajoules of electricity, enough to power over 17.4 million light bulbs for a year
• 265,873 tonnes of solid waste, equivalent to the trash produced by 194 million individuals per day
• 47,296 tonnes of food product waste, equivalent to 78 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.

Additional information

IFCO is the leading global provider of reusable packaging solutions for fresh foods, serving customers in 50+ countries. IFCO operates a pool of over 314 million Reusable Plastic Containers (RPCs) globally, which are used for over 1.7 billion shipments of fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, bread, and other items from suppliers to grocery retailers every year. IFCO RPCs ensure a better fresh food supply chain by protecting freshness and quality and lowering costs, food waste and environmental impact compared to single-use packaging. More: www.ifco.com.