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More sustainable packaging

The new initiative that’s helping Exertis Supplies stay sustainable

Distribution is the lifeblood of Exertis – it’s what we do best, and we pride ourselves on being able to provide top tier service to all of our partners and customers worldwide.

Because so much of what we do focuses around shipping packages all over the globe, it’s important that we remain conscious of our packaging, and strive to work in the most sustainable way. That’s why the team at Exertis Supplies have been working on innovating the way packaging and transport works within their business unit, ensuring we staying planet-friendly and environmentally conscious.

Sparked by teamwork

The Exertis Supplies sustainability project began during a LEAD course, wherein a group were assigned the topic of ‘sustainability’, considering three areas of the business: packaging and onward transport, vendor assessments, and staff behaviour. This led the group to analyse how products are shipped to customers and ordered by suppliers at the Raunds site of Exertis UK. From here, Exertis Supplies Director of Commercial, Ben Appleby, found a desire to carry this initiative forward in response to the increasing prevalence of sustainability initiatives within Exertis and our customers.

Key action and new initiatives

From this initial idea, Exertis Supplies launched some key actions that would see the development of a more sustainable packaging protocol. This included an Internal Sustainability Council, created to have those members of the team who are passionate about the topic engaged and able to drive forward change. Also launched was the Exertis Supplies Sustainability Programme (ESSP), consisting of six customers and two suppliers, created to understand more about what the customer wants, and to engage some suppliers who are environmentally focused to bring along on the journey.

Since the launch of these new initiatives, Exertis Supplies have since reviewed packaging, and are in the process of performing the same exercise with a new potential supplier, in the hope of making some greater savings.

Of this review of protocol, Exertis Director of Commercial, Ben Appleby, says “we are at the very start of working with suppliers and customers to create a ‘green’ catalogue, so those dealers that are environmentally focused can sell from this specific range and remove the options of products that aren’t green.

This then falls hand-in-hand with our data work, which is to set the standard of what should be available for customers to use in terms of recycled content and recyclability of a product.

I am looking into partners for carbon offsetting at the moment, with a view to incorporate this into our offering in the near future.

ben

We're setting the standard of what should be available for customers to use in terms of recycled content.

Ben Appleby Directory of Commercial, Exertis UK

Once the ongoing work with customers and suppliers is complete, the Exertis Supplies team plans to move on to review box sizes to be more efficient with packaging, allowing them to reduce the amount of air shipped with each delivery.

Wider packaging innovation

Sustainability for Exertis and DCC is split into four pillars – Climate Change and Energy Transition, Safety and Environmental Protection, People and Social, and Governance and Compliance. This Exertis Supplies packaging initiative caught the attention of Exertis Sustainability Manager Emma Boniface when she became aware of the LEAD Programme and sustainability project in late 2022. As someone responsible for the UK Facilities Compliance team, it became a priority for Emma to assist the Exertis Supplies team with this endeavour, and help to expand it out to other sites within Exertis UK.

Earlier in 2023, the responsibility of purchasing packaging for the NDC was passed to the compliance team, and there’s an existing legal obligation to record and report our packaging usage in relation to carbon emissions, compliance, and tax purposes. This means it was a natural next step to then review packaging usage in more detail to see if any cost and carbon reductions could be made at the NDC, where the same packaging supplier is used as in Elland and Raunds: Macfarlane Packaging.

In June 2023, Exertis invited Macfarlane to the NDC for a sustainability workshop day, to look at a combination of ecological and economical packaging solutions to drive raw material, Co2e and cost reductions. Macfarlane would then feed back their findings and suggestions for improvements.

Given the product mix and spend profile, the key focus areas were:

  • Pallet wrapping review – Full health check to review material and machine performance
  • Corrugated packaging process review – Review of pack process ergonomics, pack design, and material and performance by the innovation LAB design team (optimisation specialists)
  • Customer satisfaction and ESG requirements review – Review of current processes under legislation and compliance

Of this collaboration with Macfarlane, Exertis Sustainability Manager Emma Boniface notes “Macfarlane invited myself, Sion Wineyard, and Barry Robinson to their ILAB for them to present back their findings and proposed savings. The important message is that we have the potential to reduce our material consumption by 38 tonnes, and almost triple our carbon reduction to 74t CO2e,”

The new innovation that’s being seen throughout Exertis regarding our packaging is still in early stages, but shows great promise for the future of planet-friendly packaging, and is set to positively impact Exertis’ ongoing sustainability journey.