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plastic

Hazel 4D are stretching to meet the plastic waste challenge
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By Hazel 4D

Pallet-wrapping in the UK uses over 140,000 tonnes of plastic each year and a huge percentage of that is waste. The cost is massive, in money and environmental impact.

So, what can we do to minimise plastic usage and waste without compromising stability? Our retail and logistic customers look to us to blend materials, machines and monitoring into a perfect solution. Hazel 4D’s commitment to cutting waste and enhancing stability at the same time is already reaping results for many of them, like Micronized Food Products Ltd.

“With our old machine, tests showed we were using 810g of stretch film per pallet. The Hazel 4D team were able to get this down to 167g per pallet by optimising the new machine’s settings. That’s a plastic reduction of 79%, a major environmental win as well as a substantial annual cost saving” says general manager Andrew Shentall.

Consultations always comes first, carrying out extensive testing using our FEF200 mobile testing unit, to really understand a customer’s current set-up and make recommendations that we know will make a difference.

“Typically, our consultants see customers wrap pallets using 17-23 micron cast stretch film, stretching between 0-200% depending on the quality of the film”, explains Kevin Oliver, H4D technical sales manager.

“So when we can go in, optimise or replace machines, introduce a great nano-film like Extremus which can achieve over 300% stretch that means we’re taking 1m of film and stretching it to 4m. We train everyone to make the best of it, we’re making immediate impact on waste and cost.”

Savings are not just on direct materials costs, either, but Packaging Recovery Notes which really add to the bill for many of the customers who we see for a consultation. This table shows how we made a difference to a pet food manufacturer, reducing their PRN costs by 81%.

*Per pallet wrapped, ** these numbers are based on a company wrapping 250,000 pallets annually, with 62,500 pallets per each example in the table

In spite of significant opportunities to save, many businesses continue to miss out. The weakness could come at any point of the chain, explains Kevin. “They might be using a great film with a machine not configured to make the best of it. Or they might be using a great machine with poor film, or their staff aren’t trained to optimise the set-up and to maintain it. Or they’re working with very heavy, or awkwardly shaped items and think extra wrap is the only way to achieve stability. So our consultation finds those weaknesses and we respond with a complete Intelligent Load Stability system designed to lower cost, lower waste and optimise stability, no matter what you’re packaging.”

Our waste saving solutions consistently deliver a more stable pallet, too. Our recent Intelligent Load Stability review for a bathroom manufacturer reduced their plastic usage by around 80% and their costs by £60,000. Our consultation found that they spent significant time and money applying heavy shrink hoods to bulky pallets for stability, using costly propane shrink guns.

Installing energy efficient pallet-wrappers, switching to Extremus film and removing the need for shrink hoods and guns streamlines the whole operation, takes a fraction of time per pallet and makes a huge cut to their plastic wastage – our customer saved 16.64 tonnes of plastic per year!

“Hazel 4D have proven to be a partner we can rely on and we have now placed an order for a permanent custom pallet wrapping machine. It’s nice knowing that we have a responsive partner that we won’t have to chase should we need maintenance in the future.

I would not hesitate in recommending Hazel 4D, their pallet wrapping machinery or Extremus Nano film technology to any potential client wishing to upgrade their pallet wrapping systems and make improvements to their operation.”

Micronized Food Products Ltd.

COULD WE HELP YOU CUT COSTS AND PLASTIC WASTE, TOO?
When we work with you to understand your needs, recommend a tailored solution and optimise machines and material, you get total load stability and a real weight off your mind. Plus, we’ll make sure it stays that way with regular visits to ensure your system is always on top form.

Click here to book a free consultation and find out more.

Call a packaging expert on 0113 242 6999 or email us at wecar@hazel4d.com

Fighting plastic pollution with technology
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Returnable and re-useable transit packaging and equipment is a key business and environmental asset; unfortunately, a huge amount is lost or stolen each year. Warren Harris, Insight and BD Manager at Bakers Basco tells us how they’re using to tech to cut down on attrition and catch thieves in the act…

A major part of the issue is about how we use plastic throughout society, including in the logistics and supply chain. For example, in the bakery industry, Bakers Basco has been using GPS technology for a number of years to help reduce the attrition rates of our plastic bread baskets and dollies. These products are designed to be reused again and again for a life span of up to 10 years, and then, in many cases, recycled once they come to the end of their useful life.

In the current climate, with very real and valid concerns about the volume of non-returnable and non-reusable plastics in the supply chain, there is an increasing focus on Returnable Transit Packaging (RTP).Unfortunately, like many RTP products (like pallets – most of them are supposed to get returned and reused), our plastic baskets and dollies are just too well-designed, sturdy and all-round useful – so they get ‘borrowed’ or taken out of the supply chain. Of course, there are additional costs in terms of harm to the environment – people who misuse returnable packaging tend to dump surplus items at the side of the road or in canals, rather than disposing of them responsibly. Our estimates suggest that 90% will go into a skip, the local council will pick them up and they will end up in landfill – and we all know what that means for the environment.

The right kind of plastic products, used in the right way, can majorly contribute to solving the plastic problem, while helping companies cut costs and improve margins through their use in the ‘circular economy’, where things are built to last and can easily be recycled and the raw materials reused when they reach the end of their life. Bakers Basco manages a pool of circa four million baskets and dollies throughout the UK benefitting members such as Fine Lady Bakeries, Warburtons, Hovis, Allied Bakeries and Frank Roberts; they are an essential part in the transportation of millions of our favourite products to retailers each week.

Aldi UK CEO Giles Hurley last week sent a letter to suppliers outlining the supermarket’s pledge to have all their own label products in 100% recyclable, reusable or compostable packaging by 2022, while Iceland MD Richard Walker recently stated that packaging is only around 5% of the food system’s carbon footprint. With these greener minded changes taking effect in the food industry, how products are transported then becomes a key consideration. Returnable Transit Packaging is going to be an important factor in ensuring that goods delivered in less packaging still reach the shelves in saleable condition, and RTP can also be designed to fit perfectly together, maximizing the amount of stock transported at once, and minimizing the number of delivery vehicles on the roads. 

But for the environmental impact of this harmonious circular economy to be seen, we need to devise innovative ways to reduce RTP equipment losses.

Technology has opened up new means of tracing and tracking items as they pass along the supply chain. Such innovations can prove crucial to driving efficiency and cost savings, at the same time addressing key requirements such as sustainability by saving a fortune in disposable packaging and never going into landfill.

Recent examples of innovations we’ve implemented include impregnating the bread basket plastic with a special traceable glitter-like additive which makes them identifiable after recycling and reprocessing to discourage the illegal procurement of the equipment for this purpose. We’ve also successfully deployed tracking technology to make our equipment easier to locate and recover should it fall out of the supply chain, such as satellite imagery and GPS chips. Looking to the future, we’re continually on the lookout for new and innovative ways of cracking down on the loss of returnable transit packaging and have been investigating RFID technology. 

To us, the case is clear; the higher we push up the retention and reduce the attrition rates of our bread baskets and dollies, the lower the cost to both the bakery industry and the environment through dumping and unnecessary recycling.

Image by Hans Braxmeier from Pixabay