Garrett Quinn, Chief Sustainability Officer of Smurfit Westrock, explains how Ecorrcrates are making it easier to recycle shipping packaging while reducing costs at the same time.
Wooden shipping crates have long been the standard for transporting non-consumer goods, thanks to their durability and strength.
While made from a sustainable and biodegradable material, wood shipping crates aren’t often disposed of in the most responsible way. Once used, businesses usually have one of a few disposal options:
- Store them for reuse if possible.
- Work with a third party for recycling or shredding.
- Transport them to a landfill.
Limited space means storing them isn’t always a viable option, and recycling through third parties depends on whether a business has access to local vendors. This means the easiest way to dispose of wood crates is often via landfill.
However, Ecorrcrates’ shipping crates, that use corrugated board instead of wood, are now making it easier for businesses to recycle their packaging.
In addition to increasing circularity and reducing waste, users are also reporting that Ecorrcrates are reducing costs.
Innovating the shipping crate
Working in the packaging industry, President of Depin, Inc. Dan Bonebrake frequently encountered shipping pallets made out of corrugated material, and that exposure eventually gave him an idea.
“I thought, ‘I wonder if we could make shipping crates out of corrugated board,’” said Bonebrake. “Back then, I wasn’t thinking about producing and selling them, but maybe licensing the idea to another business.”
Depin was already providing wood crates to customers, so Bonebrake understood their limitations and how a corrugated crate could overcome them.
Beyond recycling challenges, wood shipping crates are heavy and take time, tools and manual labour to assemble and move.
“These heavy wooden crates drive up costs in multiple ways – from freight expenses to labour inefficiencies – and they’re cumbersome to handle,” said Devin Gressel, who made the switch to Ecorrcrate as an aerospace industry professional and now works as a sales representative for Ecorrcrate.
“Ecorrcrate offers a smarter alternative: lightweight, durable crates that reduce operational costs and improve warehouse productivity.”
Despite frustrations with wood crates, no one was interested in Bonebrake’s idea without proof of concept. So, he began the arduous task of developing and manufacturing the perfect corrugated crate, and the Ecorrcrate was born.
Since shipping crates are often exposed to the outdoors and environments that lack temperature control, Depin knew it needed a corrugated material that could stand up to the elements.
WetTech®, a papermaking technology from Smurfit Westrock, can lower the water intake of paper fibres, making it ideal for products that are exposed to wet and humid environments. WetTech board is recyclable, and Depin now uses it to make all of its Ecorrcrates.
“Depin’s integration of WetTech in Ecorrcrate is outstanding and represents what’s achievable when customers and suppliers prioritise sustainability in packaging and collaborate to deliver high-performing solutions,” said Don Sparaco, Smurfit Westrock president of Corrugated Packaging, North America.
The need for circularity and recycling
Today, Depin supplies Ecorrcrates to customers in industries such as aerospace, automotive, construction and defence.
The Depin team can customise the crates by fixing padding or straps or customising the sizes to fit various types of mechanical equipment, whether it be parts for planes, cranes or rockets.
An aerospace company designed its own Ecorrcrate to include straps and padding.
Bonebrake says many new customers in these industries approach his team because they’re looking for greater sustainability.
According to Depin’s research, a little over half of the landfills in North America will separate wood waste for incineration, but the rest do not.
“Over half of our new customers come to us with a primary or secondary goal of achieving greater sustainability,” said Bonebrake. “Whether for brand alignment, ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) targets, or reducing environmental impact, sustainability is part of their strategic goals.”
Depin’s customers also found that wood crates are difficult for their customers to handle, impacting customer experience and satisfaction.
Customers of a signage company were often faced with having to find labourers to handle signs just delivered in crates, as well as not knowing how to dispose of a wood crate once they removed the sign.
Now those who buy signage can recycle their Ecorrcrates along with their other corrugated boxes.
Sustainability that saves
In addition to ease of recycling, Bonebrake says Ecorrcrates weigh anywhere from 40-to-75% less than wood crates. That’s a significant difference that can impact the costs and emissions associated with shipping and transportation.
Bonebrake says their customers often save 30% or more in shipping costs thanks to Ecorrcrate’s lighter construction compared to traditional wood crates.
Also, when a crate weighs much less, a plane can transport more cargo on the same amount of fuel, potentially reducing carbon emissions related to shipping.
Additionally, if businesses can recycle the corrugated material, then they don’t have to pay the landfill costs associated with disposing of wood crates.
One of Depin’s major aerospace customers was able to save six figures on its disposal costs in one year after switching to Ecorrcrate.
In a side-by-side assembly demo, assembly of the corrugated crate is complete while the wood crate is still being assembled.
Businesses can also save on labour, which is what a quarter of Depin’s new customers are searching for when they ask about using Ecorrcrates.
If a business is doing a large amount of shipping, the time spent on assembling crates can be significant. Assembly of Ecorrcrates poses multiple benefits compared to those made from wood:
- Assembly time for a corrugated crate is two minutes; it’s at least double or more for a wood crate.
- No tools are needed for assembly.
- Assembly poses less risk for injuries.
The future of Ecorrcrates
As businesses adopt Ecorrcrates for greater sustainability and efficiency, Depin is continuing to grow and expand its reach to accommodate customers worldwide, something Smurfit Westrock is equipped to handle.
“It’s part of our mission to help our customers improve sustainability in their packaging supply chains, so we’re happy to partner with Depin to help businesses do exactly that,” said Garrett Quinn, chief sustainability officer at Smurfit Westrock.
“As a global supplier of sustainable packaging, we hope to continue our partnership as they expand to other regions.”
The Depin team is preparing to open another office location in the Southeastern U.S. and will soon partner with an Asian manufacturer to better serve Asia and Europe.
Additional office locations in North and South America will soon follow as the Depin team continues to try to meet growing demand from customers like Gressel.
“I still shake my head thinking back on all we put up with using wood crates when I worked in aerospace,” Gressel said. “Using Ecorrcrates is a simple choice that I wished I had made years before I did.”
The post Corrugated crates: Helping businesses be more sustainable and lower costs appeared first on Circular Online.