"The re-usable packaging trials were a resounding success, so we are delighted that B&Q now has the conviction to use the system across its worktop range. I hope that it will encourage other companies in the sector to look at the business and environmental benefits available from these closed-loop returnable systems"
Mike Robey, WRAP key account manager
Eastleigh, Hants, England: B&Q has announced that it is to roll-out multi-trip packaging for its kitchen worktops following initial trials and expects the bags used to make significant savings.
After the trials with WRAP (Waste and Resource Action Programme), the retailer has ordered over 5,000 of the reusable Carrierpac bags used from supplier Storsack Dorton Ltd.
The financial benefits are clear to the company which believes that if each bag is used 15 times the system will save £300,000 per year in packaging costs alone.
WRAP says that trials with the Carrierpac reusable bags also showed that they can significantly reduce product damage, and so have the potential to further increase savings. Product damage savings include costs associated with product replacement, such as raw materials, processing, and transportation as well as waste management of damaged goods, customer dissatisfaction, and staffing to manage returns.
Currently cardboard-based transit packaging is designed to protect a worktop for just a single journey ending as waste. To overcome this waste, packaging consultants Outpace worked with B&Q in developing a multi-trip package for a range of kitchen worktops resulting in the ‘Carrierpac’.
This reusable bag is manufactured from plastic materials supplied by Storsack Dorton Ltd and Kaysersberg Plastics, has a recycled content of around 45% and is also recyclable at the end of its life. Logistics contractors TNT and Christian Salvesen were also involved in the trials.
Five hundred Carrierpacs were used in the trial and were uniquely numbered to enable careful monitoring. One particular carrier lasted for 18 trips.
No damage was reported in the trial, saving on the waste that would have arisen otherwise, according to the report.
The case study showed that the average number of trips was lower than expected at six, attributed in part to the loss of bags at various points in the closed loop system, especially during the final stages of the trial.
Trials have shown that, in addition to cost savings, the use of multi-trip packaging results in several environmental benefits including improved resource efficiency, waste reduction and packaging waste minimisation. For consumers, the removal of the packaging by the delivery team for reuse takes away the inconvenience of recycling or disposing of the bulky single trip packaging, according to WRAP.
The initial WRAP and B&Q trial demonstrated that multi-trip packaging can be commercially viable, however there needs to be tightly controlled logistics and tracking.
B&Q is also investigating other opportunities for multi-trip packaging, particularly where there are high rates of product damage. The company has identified kitchen panels and kick rails, white goods, doors and radiators as opportunities where using reusable packaging could result in cost savings and environmental benefits.
WRAP key account manager Mike Robey said:
“The re-usable packaging trials were a resounding success, so we are delighted that B&Q now has the conviction to use the system across its worktop range. I hope that it will encourage other companies in the sector to look at the business and environmental benefits available from these closed-loop returnable systems.”
Further information:
A case study and full report about the trial are available from www.wrap.org.uk/retail under DIY.
Working in seven key areas (Construction, Retail, Manufacturing, Organics, Business Growth, Behavioural Change, and Local Authority Support), WRAP’s work focuses on market development and support to drive forward recycling and materials resource efficiency within these sectors, as well as wider communications and awareness activities including the multi-media national Recycle Now campaign for England.
More information on all of WRAP's programmes can be found on www.wrap.org.uk