FAQs

As com­pa­nies con­sider reusable pack­ag­ing sys­tems, the RPA rec­om­mends a com­pre­hen­sive analy­sis of their sys­tem to ensure a suc­cess­ful imple­men­ta­tion. RPA mem­ber com­pa­nies are avail­able to assist com­pa­nies with their ques­tions. Here are com­monly asked ques­tions that com­pa­nies often ask. For more infor­ma­tion, please con­tact the RPA.

What is reusable pack­ag­ing?
 

Pal­lets, con­tain­ers and dun­nage designed for re-use within a sup­ply chain. They are con­structed for mul­ti­ple trips and extended life. Due to their reusable nature, they offer a rapid return on invest­ment and a lower cost-per-trip than sin­gle use pack­ag­ing prod­ucts. Reusable pal­lets, hand-held con­tain­ers, bulk con­tain­ers and dun­nage are used for the effi­cient stor­age, han­dling and dis­tri­b­u­tion of prod­ucts through­out the sup­ply chain.

How is reusable pack­ag­ing typ­i­cally used?
 

• Inbound ship­ments
• Out­bound shipments
• Work-in-process
• Assembly/fabrication
• Fill­ing
• Pro­cess­ing
• Re-Packing
• Pick­ing
• Stor­age
• Dis­tri­b­u­tion

What are the eco­nomic, social and envi­ron­men­tal ben­e­fits of reusable pack­ag­ing?
 

Eco­nomic
 

• Reduces over­all pack­ag­ing costs
• Rapid Return on Invest­ment (ROI)
• Reduces costly prod­uct damage
• Reduces labor costs
• Reduces inven­tory, requires less space
• Reduced cost-per-trip

Social
 

• Recy­clable
• Improves work­place safety
• Improves work­place efficiency

Envi­ron­men­tal
 

• Improves trans­porta­tion effi­ciency, result­ing in fewer trips and reduced fuel costs
• Pre­vents waste from enter­ing the solid waste stream Reduces green­house gas emissions
• Sup­ports source reduction
• Requires less energy

What indus­tries use reusable pack­ag­ing?
 

• Auto­mo­tive
• Food/Grocery
• Phar­ma­ceu­ti­cal
• Elec­tron­ics
• Aero­space
• Chem­i­cals
• Tex­tile
• Bev­er­age
• Pro­duce

When does reusable pack­ag­ing make sense?
 

A sys­tem­atic, well-planned reusable pack­ag­ing pro­gram makes sense for many types of appli­ca­tions, par­tic­u­larly those with the following:

• High vol­umes of solid waste
• Fre­quent shrink­age or prod­uct damage
• Expen­sive expend­able pack­ag­ing or recur­ring single-use pack­ag­ing costs
• Under­uti­lized trailer space in transportation
• Inef­fi­cient storage/warehouse space
• Worker safety or ergonomic issues
• Sig­nif­i­cant need for cleanliness/hygiene
• Need for unitization
• Fre­quent trips

For more infor­ma­tion about reusable pack­ag­ing, please visit the Research Library and down­load ’ Reusables101′ and ‘Reusables102′.

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