Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence Circular Plastics Economy CCPEThe circular reusable transport box
Online retail has increased significantly since the coronavirus pandemic. This has been accompanied by a significant increase in packaging waste and highlights the need for sustainable solutions. Fraunhofer CCPE has developed a new reusable transport box that is specially designed for food shipping. This solution meets strict cold chain and sustainability requirements and integrates modern technologies such as sensors and digital interfaces.
The market volume of online retail has increased by a remarkable 62% compared to pre-COVID times. However, this development also brings environmental challenges with it: in Germany alone, over 10.4 million parcels are sent every day, which accounts for around 70% of the volume of paper waste. These figures make it clear that online retail contributes significantly to the increase in packaging waste and therefore requires sustainable solutions.
Against this backdrop, the Fraunhofer CCPE has developed an innovative reusable transport box as a demonstrator that has been specially designed for food shipping. This application must meet significantly higher requirements than the average goods shipment. In order to meet these special requirements, the expertise of the Fraunhofer CCPE was combined.
Requirements for the reusable transport box:
- Compatibility with standardized logistics systems, e.g. EPAL
- Compliance with cold chain specifications through thermal insulation
- Efficient cleaning, puncture resistance, minimization of dissipative losses
- Energy and resource efficiency
- Maximization of the cooling time
- Prevention of unauthorized access
- Temperature and position monitoring
- User interface for user interactions along the logistics chain
Fraunhofer CCPE solutions implemented in the demonstrator:
- Module base area: 600 mm x 400 mm
- Insulating particle foam based on PLA (biopolymer)
- PLA particle foam is laminated with PLA film (mono-material construction)
- Separation of chilled goods and non-chilled goods
- Integration of passive cool packs
- Cover with innovative closure system
- Sensor integration in the cover for data acquisition
- Digital twin and e-ink display to promote transparency and efficient logistics
The development of the reusable transport box combines innovations from various Research Departments (RD) of the Fraunhofer CCPE. The RD “Circular Polymers” and “Circular Additives and Compounds” provided washable and impact-resistant PLA grades as well as food-safe and odour-optimized secondary materials. The RD “Advanced Recycling” focused on the recycling of the PLA grades under consideration, while the RD “Circular Logistics and Sustainability” contributed sensor integration and the digital twin. The “Application and Demonstration” RD developed the mono-material approach, which enables particularly efficient recycling, and the “Business and Transformation” RD developed innovative business models.