CHEP aiming for zero waste

ATLANTA – CHEP has introduced an initiative called Zero Waste World at the Sustainable Brands conference in Detroit, MI. This program, being rolled out globally in the coming months, brings together leading retailers and manufacturers to create smarter and more sustainable supply chains.

CHEP’s pooled (shared and reusable) pallets create the invisible backbone of the global supply chain, helping it move more goods to more people, in more places than any other organization on earth. That network scale and visibility puts CHEP in a unique position to collaborate with companies to help save them time, money and resources, all while creating greater value for society. For example, CHEP’s Transport Collaboration solutions are cutting empty miles, wasted fuel and carbon emissions, while improving the performance of customers’ supply chains.

CHEP is initially working with its global customers such as Unilever as well as North America based customers such as Walmart Canada and California Giant Berry Farms. CHEP looks to soon expand the initiative to multi-company coalitions and open innovation events in which supply chain experts can discuss sustainability topics ranging from reverse logistics to shared transportation solutions to data-driven approaches.

“Zero Waste World is a working collaboration of companies committed to three primary sustainability challenges, ” said Laura Nador, president of CHEP North America.

“Those areas are eliminating waste, eradicating empty transport miles and cutting out inefficiencies.”

Participating companies in CHEP’s Zero Waste World program will regularly come together virtually and in person to share ideas and examples of how to best address these three areas. In doing so, they will find practical and impactful new ways to collaborate, with the aim of building smarter and more sustainable supply chains. The following are examples of how customers have partnered with CHEP, leading to the creation of the Zero Waste World program:

• California Giant Berry Farms, an international berry producer, has contributed to a Zero Waste World with its commitment to using only CHEP’s pooled pallets. In 17 years of sharing and reusing pallets, California Giant has removed 1,221,600 pounds of carbon emissions from the atmosphere and eliminated 1,618,936 pounds of solid waste from landfills.
• Frey Farms has been participating in CHEP’s pallet storage program to ensure pallet availability and eradicate empty transport miles. Frey Farms stores a total of approximately 50,000 of CHEP’s pooled pallets at three farms in Florida, generating transportation efficiencies that greatly reduce carbon emissions and environmental impact.
• Bottomley Evergreens, one of America’s largest growers and shippers of Christmas trees, is collaborating with CHEP on both pallet storage and the managed recovery of pallets to improve warehouse utilization and cut out process inefficiencies, even in the off-season. By receiving pallets directly from distribution centers and sorting and storing them using CHEP quality standards, Bottomley Evergreens has been able to keep people working year-round, significantly improving company efficiencies.

“Our goal is to work with as many companies as possible to create a Zero Waste World,” Nador said.

“While we’re proud of the work we’ve done so far, this is only the beginning. Overcoming our shared challenges will take concerted effort and collaboration, but I’m confident that together we can make a difference.”