$witching to Utilysys® is cost saving

November 19, 2019 - The use of reusable crates in the flowerbulb sector is still mainly based on cost considerations. Sustainability does play an increasingly important role in the flowerbulbs industry. But choosing the options, one does not look at packaging in the first place. An editorial in Greenity makes it clear where the trading companies currently are when it comes to returnable packaging. Read the article here (only in Dutch).

Exporters point out that it is not easy to have the crates returned. Collecting the empty crates is not an easy job in fine-meshed outlets. The lack of interest in sustainability among customers is also a cause. And the single-use crates are often given other uses in their second life after the flower bulbs, such as cultivation bin or moving box.

In practice, it appears that round-trip crates function very well with large-scale customers. According to those who use the Utilysys® crate, the estimate that you can save costs with returnable crates appears to be correct. This has proved mainly in North American destinations. But even in European destinations, the savings on the cost of return transport are soon large enough to justify investment in folding crates.

That sustainability is getting more important as an argument for reconsidering the use of single-use plastic crates seems only a matter of time. The switch to a circular economy is an issue for many companies. As a result, the economical use of raw materials will play a role in the choice of a logistics system. In addition, the importance of CO2 footprint is on the rise. The plastic discussion is also being held in more and more countries. In this respect, the Netherlands no longer differs so much with the rest of the world.