IFCO awards annual Sustainability Certificate to retailers and growers for the third year in a row

Munich, Germany (ots) - The certificate reinforces sustainability credentials of
retailers and growers in North America and Europe

IFCO (https://www.ifco.com), the world's leading provider of Reusable Plastic
Containers (RPCs) for fresh food, is awarding its annual Sustainability
Certificate in Europe and North America for the third time in a row. IFCO's
sustainability certification initiative was inaugurated in September 2018, when
it was handed out to retailer customers in Europe and North America for the
first time. Acknowledging the sustainability efforts not only of retailers, but
also of growers, IFCO awards companies of both industries since last year. IFCO
is amongst the most sustainable logistics companies worldwide and leads the
industry in corporate social responsibility (CSR). Therefore, being awarded by
IFCO proofs companies' commitment to environmental protection and
sustainability.

Sustainability Certificate proves environmental commitment

Not just since the public attention towards environmental and climate protection
has dramatically risen over the past year, customers have been increasingly
valuing sustainable products and business practices. Taking into account the
increased demand for environmentally friendly products and processes helps
retailers and growers to stand out from the competition and to ensure their
customers' loyalty. The IFCO certificate proves the environmental engagement of
the awarded companies. Furthermore, corporate sustainability goals are
increasingly in the focus of company shareholders. IFCO's Sustainability
Certificate is a clear demonstration of environmentally friendly behavior to
customers and shareholders alike.

After starting its Sustainability Certificate initiative for retailers in
September 2018, and opening up the competition for growers the year afterwards,
IFCO acknowledges credible and lasting sustainability efforts for the third year
in a row. As the use of RPCs makes a meaningful contribution to environmental
protection, IFCO shares these achievements with its customers by awarding them
with the Sustainability Certificate. Each retailer and grower customer will
receive a certificate highlighting the amount of carbon dioxide, water, energy,
solid waste, and food waste avoided by utilizing IFCO RPCs in its supply chain.
These savings are based on IFCO's energy and resource savings estimate.

"The use of RPCs ensures sustainability along the entire supply chain, from the
growers to the retailers. By awarding our Sustainability Certificate we like to
recognize the efforts of customers in both industries in reducing their
environmental footprint. The certificate proves that the awarded growers and
retailers are taking concrete measures to make supply chains more sustainable
and to protect the environment. This commitment is increasingly important to
customers as well as to business partners. Therefore, being able to prove this
commitment is a decisive factor for business success", explains Wolfgang
Orgeldinger, CEO at IFCO SYSTEMS.

RPCs guarantee annual CO2, energy, water and waste savings

IFCO is constantly monitoring the environmental benefits generated by its
logistics concept, the IFCO SmartCycleTM, which is based on the principle of
"share and reuse". All IFCO RPCs are reused between 30 and 120 times during
their lifetime, and at every cycle are put through a rigorous cleaning and
inspection process before being delivered for the next cycle. Damaged RPCs that
cannot be repaired are 100% recycled and used for the production of new IFCO
RPCs. Several studies have proven that the use of RPCs leads to savings in terms
of CO2 (up to 60%), energy (64%), water (80%), solid waste (up to 86%), and food
product damage (up to 96%), when compared with single-use packaging.

IFCO is constantly monitoring the environmental benefits generated along the
SmartCycleTM. In Europe and North America, IFCO business enabled the following
savings in 2019:

- 516,168 tonnes of CO2, equivalent to 280,275 fewer cars on the
road in a year
- 9.2 million cubic meters of water, equivalent to over 209
million five-minute showers
- 33,096 terajoules of electricity, enough to power over 17.4
million light bulbs for a year
- 265,873 tonnes of solid waste, equivalent to the trash produced
by 194 million individuals per day
- 47,296 tonnes of food product waste, equivalent to 78 million
average meals in the world.

These benefits carry through to IFCO customers' supply chains and represent a
significant achievement for companies wanting to protect their fresh produce
while still being committed to improving their sustainability performance.

Additional information

IFCO is the leading global provider of reusable packaging solutions for fresh
foods, serving customers in 50+ countries. IFCO operates a pool of over 314
million Reusable Plastic Containers (RPCs) globally, which are used for over 1.7
billion shipments of fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, poultry, seafood, eggs,
bread, and other items from suppliers to grocery retailers every year. IFCO RPCs
ensure a better fresh food supply chain by protecting freshness and quality and
lowering costs, food waste and environmental impact compared to single-use
packaging. More: www.ifco.com.

Contact:

IFCO:
Daniela Carbone
VP - Global Marketing
Daniela.Carbone@ifco.com
http://www.ifco.com

Agentur:
HBI Helga Bailey GmbH
Corinna Voss / Markus Wild / Annette Hermann
Tel.: +49 (0)89 99 38 87-30 / -51 / -52
ifco@hbi.de
www.hbi.de

Additional content: https://www.presseportal.de/pm/130931/4525816
OTS: IFCO Systems

Original-Content von: IFCO Systems, übermittelt durch news aktuell