Take a systematic approach to Improving RTP

Increasingly, supermarkets are driving their suppliers to closed-loop supply chains, a process that incorporates sustainable packaging and separation technologies integrated into the supply chain to prevent waste and optimise food production. Closed-loop supply chains involve the concept of reverse logistics, whereby the supplier needs to consider both distribution to and recovery from customers. Other factors include legislation, both environmental and health and safety. Industry-wide carbon reduction initiatives and issues such as future EU taxes on one-trip packaging using materials such as expanded polystyrene foam (EPS) are also driving food processors to re-think and re-design their packaging solutions.

RTP offers a number of benefits for processors and retailers looking to minimise their carbon footprint. In contrast to single-trip packaging, which needs waste removal and disposal, plastic RTP is a no-waste product. It is capable of performing hundreds of delivery cycles and, at the end of its working life, is fully recyclable. 

However, until relatively recently food-grade crates could not be fabricated from recycled plastic as the safety of the material could not always be guaranteed. However, in a recent project with Sainsbury’s, Schoeller Allibert became the first plastic RTP manufacturer in Europe to offer a 100 per cent recycled fleet which is safe for contact with food, including fresh produce, meat, fish and bakery products. 

Sainsbury’s had a fleet of 2 million RTP crates which, after 20 years in use, had come to the end of its working life. As the crates had been used in a closed distribution loop, and therefore traced at all stages of their life-cycle, it would be possible to recycle them into new food-grade containers. Approval was gained under the European Food Standards Authority (EFSA) for the recycling process and the products moulded from the recycled material are fully compliant with Article 4 of the EU Regulation 282/2008. The EFSA approval now covers the recycling and remoulding processes at Schoeller Allibert’s three main facilities across Europe.

Traceability

European regulations relating to allergens, general tracking of ingredients for food safety reasons – not to mention the horse-meat scandals – have put the spotlight on traceability in the food industry. With RTP it is a simple process to integrate RFID tags into boxes, pallets and containers. RFID can deliver a number of benefits, including faster supply chain trip cycles, accurate ‘real-time’ inventory and reduced losses of returnable containers. 

RTP can also be designed to be fully compatible with automated handling equipment. Folding and stacking operations can be robotised and customised base and rim designs enable fast moving and palletising along with long-term storage on miniload warehousing systems. 

An example here is Kermené, a meat processing company owned by the French Leclerc retail group. It has six sites processing pork, veal and beef from slaughter to cooked products with one logistics platform. For intra-logistics and deliveries to retail customers, Kermené had a global automation project which needed a new crate that could hold up to 40kg of fresh meat, raw or packed throughout the processing and storage stages as well as replacing roll cages for store delivery. A further requirement was full tracking from slaughter to consumer unit.

To meet this brief, Schoeller Allibert designed a stack nest container with a large front opening for easy access with a unique base design which allows a 40kg load with no deflection in a high-bay automated warehouse. The benefits which resulted included seamless intra-logistics moves, increased transport payloads and full track and trace, both internally and externally with RFID tags. Major savings were made on reverse logistics with the 70% nesting crate.

Design advantages

RTP is robust and durable and has standardised dimensions, making it fully compatible with all processes, handling and logistics equipment. Folding containers offer optimised payload and increased internal dimensions compared with most alternative solutions and enable food products to be stored, packed and shipped in a standard volume. 

Although lightweight and strong, containers can be manufactured in special grades of plastic that are resistant to blast freezing or compatible with steam cooking. Fleury Michon is a French leader in processed food products and a major European player in the prepared meals and snacking market, based on both meat and fish products. Looking to replace stainless steel, Fleury Michon wanted a plastic alternative that would meet all of these requirements and would last for several years. The solution came in the form of blast-freezing HDPE and special polypropylene (PP) that can withstand 100°C in an industrial steam cooking oven. Specific features, such as drop-down doors on large containers, offer easy access for loading and unloading and boxes and crates that can be folded or nested when empty reduce the cost of reverse logistics by maximising load capacity and reducing food and vehicle movements. 

Products from Schoeller Allibert include stack, nest and fold containers, plastic pallets, rigid and folding large containers and the iconic Maxinest range, which is used by SRS (Svenska Returystem AB), a Swedish pooling company. The Swedish food industry was, in fact, the first in the world to start a logistics system based on returnable packaging and the fundamental principle behind the system was to replace single-use packaging, such as cardboard cartons, with returnable containers. The operation involves the entire supply chain, including manufacturers or producers, wholesalers and retailers in an environmentally-friendly system that has become the standard for the Swedish grocery industry. The Maxinest Plus+ range used by SRS is designed with a recess under its bale arms to allow access by robotic stack/nest systems, while the reinforced base is designed for quiet, smooth operation over all conveyor types. The containers can be stacked 10-high on bale arms or nest up to 77% of its original height with the bale arms pushed back. The Maxinest can be RFID-enabled at manufacture with water and shock-resistant tags which make them easy to track throughout the supply chain. 

RTP can deliver efficiency and economy throughout the supply chain with a resultant reduction in waste. It delivers savings in transport and handling and improved product protection in a hygienically clean product that meets food industry standards. In short, it offers the optimum packaging solution for a sustainable supply chain.