Study to evaluate impact of RPCs on environment

IFCO Systems said it will add information to its study of the life cycle assessment of reusable plastic containers (RPCs) and display-ready corrugated boxes used to ship fresh produce to grocery retailers. In the research, human and eco-toxicity impact categories will be added to the areas being reviewed. These will include solid waste, energy demand, and water usage, amongst others.

The updated report, to be released in May 2014, is being produced by Franklin Associates, a Division of ERG, a leading consulting company specialising in life cycle assessment and solid waste management.

IFCO is an international logistics service provider, offering RPCs for fresh products. Vice president for Global Marketing, Hillary Femal said,“We fully expect the life cycle analysis of human and eco-toxicity impacts for RPCs to add a layer of information to the analysis. These two impact categories were not evaluated in the life cycle assessment released in 2013 due to the lack of scientific consensus regarding methodology in early 2012 when the study was scoped. However, we would like to expand the analysis to examine these aspects at a relative level using the most widely accepted methodologies and, of course, a thorough peer review of the results.”

The older study released by the company shows that RPCs are a sustainable packaging option. The company’s own products generate 82% less solid waste, 92% less water and need 49% lower energy. In addition, the products lower ozone depletion by 76% for a weighted average of 10 top produce commodities.