Each year, we deliver about 300.000 SKU’s rope and chain accessories in more than 350 DIY retail shops in Europe. We changed our packaging from hard plastic polyethylene terephthalate (PET) blisters to flexible plastic polyethylene (PE) bags and are curious about the life cycle assessment. Supported by KU Leuven, we conducted research into our environmental impact.

The old life cycle started with PET blister production and the use of electricity to fill these blisters. The PET blisters with accessories where then shipped to Belgium, from where they were distributed throughout Europe by truck. For the current packaging in bags we ship bulk accessories and fill German bags in our own production department in Belgium, from where they were distributed throughout Europe by truck. Intuitively, the environmental consequences will be significant, research shows the following facts:

• Ocean transport is 11 times lower by importing in bulk.
• The switch to PE reduced the environmental impact from 72% to 28%.
• The energy use in production decreased from 92% to 8%.
• The impact of ocean transport decreased from 89% to 11%.
• The resource use or energy carriers decreased from 86% to 14%.
• The smaller volume and lower plastic amounts of the bags aid in reducing the amount of trucks needed to deliver goods to retailers and to reduce the amount to recycle.
• Photochemical ozone formation has decreased enormous. Human health in general has thus increased.

It's good to know that we made the right decisions, but maybe we can go a little bit further. New projects beckon around the corner. Research shows that:

• The replacement of ocean transport by arial long haul freight isn’t an option. Air freight has a much greater CO2-impact.
• And what about PE? The possibility of using bio-PE can be investigated. Bio-PE results in less climate change than using synthetic PE. The contribution of the PE diminishes from 45% to 39% when the switch is made to bio-PE. Time to define the options and the consequences in the product life cycles.
• Packaging in Belgium requires a significant initial investment, earned back by less transport costs.
• Eliminating the packaging and selling in bulk could have a significant impact on the environment. However bulk is not a preferred option: we deliver information on the packaging f.ex. properties and materials, bulk would present a challenge to pay at the cashier, etc.

This life cycle assessment has shown that our re-shoring strategy is paying off. Local production is systematically expanded. By moving the packaging activity to Belgium, we again become less dependent on import flows and we can respond more flexibly to market developments, benefits everywhere.

Interested to change your environmental impact and introduce our concept in your store?

Discover our store options and contact us for more information.