Crowning glory : How DS Smith helped one Danish company reduce emissions by 290 tonnes and take the sustainability crown
5 February 2018
Crowning glory : How DS Smith helped one Danish company reduce emissions by 290 tonnes and take the sustainability crown
The Danish Crown group is a global meat processing company. It is the world’s largest pork exporter and a significant player in the European beef market. It has a turnover of around DKK 60 billion and a workforce of 26,000 employees. As such a large organisation, it is extremely conscious of its environmental responsibility and passionate about reducing its carbon footprint.
Every day, Danish Crown sends and receives hundreds of pallets on to the Danish roads. It therefore asked DS Smith to look at how changing its packaging design could help reduce CO2 emissions throughout the supply chain.
Sandra Schwarze Eckhoff, Group Purchaser at Danish Crown explains: “We approached DS Smith because we know it is a specialist in developing sustainable packaging solutions which reduce environmental impact across all stages of the supply chain, without compromising on the quality and functionality of the packaging. We worked closely with the team at DS Smith to review the entire Danish Crown supply chain and packaging range and look for optimisation options.
“A number of different tests were carried out and as a result of extensive research, we decided to convert our packaging on the 4-point-lined lid (which we use in most of our packages) from corrugated-type B-flute to R-flute. The R-flute corrugation type reduces the amount of material required as it is 27 per cent thinner than B-flute. However it doesn’t impact on the carrying capacity or durability of the packaging, something that is very important to us.”
By using less corrugated material, the number of pallets required was reduced and this impacted the number of lorries on the roads and ultimately the CO2 emissions. Danish Crown believes the change in material has reduced CO2 emissions by 290 tonnes per year. In addition, there has been a 25 per cent reduction in warehouse, handling and shipping costs, as the number of pallets in the logistics chain has decreased.
Benny V. Olesen, Key Account Manager of DS Smith concludes: “The Danish Crown project has been a compelling example of how the reduction of CO2 emissions and costs goes hand in hand. At DS Smith, we are acutely aware of how packaging can be used to reduce the environmental impact throughout the supply chain. A change in material or an improved design can have a significant knock on effect to the whole supply chain and the sustainability performance of the package.”
Sandra Schwarze Eckhoff adds: “Part of the success of this project has been our close working relationship with DS Smith. They have been involved in the project from the beginning - from the initial calculations and test stage to final implementation."
