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Sustainable Material Handling Solutions and Tips

Introduce greener practices with these sustainability-focused ideas for your facility.

reusable plastic crate

Every person and organization on our planet has a certain level of responsibility to implement the most sustainable practices and solutions to help preserve our natural resources. For us, this starts with engineering and manufacturing reusable plastic pallets and crates. By optimizing them for durability, they can last for up to 50 trips. When our products have reached the end of their useful life, we recycle them responsibly and reuse 100% of the material to make new products. Exploring the switch to sustainable plastic pallets and crates, as well as other sustainability-focused ideas for a greener operation can help your organization and planet in a myriad of ways including:
• Swap expendable packaging with reusable plastic pallets and crates
• Prioritize energy efficiency
• Reduce fuel consumption
• Consider waste management alternatives

Swap expendable packaging with reusable plastic pallets and crates

If you’re looking for ways to reduce expendable packaging, switching to reusable plastic pallets and crates is the first step. Doing so can help keep billions of tons of waste out of the already-overloaded recycling centers and landfills. We also offer a plastic pallet recycling program where we buy back your pallets and issue a credit toward a future order. Beyond environmental responsibility, plenty of additional benefits come with making the switch to sustainable material handling solutions, including:
• Increased durability and longer life
Reduced long-term costs
• Stackable pallets and crates allow for more containers on each load
• Nestable solutions require less storage square footage in your facility
• Better ergonomics reduce the risk of worker injury

While reusable plastic pallets and crates have a higher initial cost, they last much longer than wooden pallets. They are highly durable and can handle more turns than traditional shipping solutions. When you don’t need to order pallets or crates as often, your long-term savings directly benefits your bottom line.

Prioritize energy efficiency

In addition to using sustainable material handling solutions, you can also implement other green practices in your facility, such as prioritizing energy efficiency. When saving energy is a priority, simple changes can go a long way. Try these energy-saving tips at your facility:
• Use LED and natural lighting instead of traditional light sources
• Leave only critical equipment running when your operation is closed
• Power equipment back on in phases to avoid a drastic start-up energy spike
• Clean and maintain equipment regularly
• Optimize air compressors
• Audit HVAC equipment for efficiency
• Consider alternative energy sources
• Provide energy-efficiency training for employees

Reduce fuel consumption

Depending on the industry, fuel consumption can be an extraordinary drain on economic and environmental resources. If you’re concerned about optimizing fuel efficiency, reducing cost, and the environmental impact, this article contains 50 ways to reduce your fuel spend. From reducing idling times to ‘greening’ your fleet, there are many ways to lower fuel costs and their effect on the environment.

Consider waste management alternatives

Everyone has heard of “reduce, reuse, recycle” practices for home. However, many organizations can benefit from implementing these waste management practices at their facilities as well. When it comes to your material handling solutions, here are a few suggestions for implementing waste management alternatives at work:
• Reduce waste from expendable packaging by switching to reusable packaging
• Reuse material handling solutions, such as plastic pallets and crates, as many times as possible
• Recycle plastic pallets and crates when they’ve reached the end of their useful life

Beyond material handling solutions, you can look for ways to adopt the reduce-reuse-recycle strategy in other areas of your business, like recycling in your facilities.

We are the leading sustainable material handling solutions manufacturer in the industry. Contact our sales team online or call 800.356.8150 today to learn more about our reusable plastic pallets and crates that are eligible for our sustainable plastic pallet recycling program.