Jeff Yorzyk, Director of Sustainability at HelloFresh, can take much of the credit for turning this ecommerce company carbon neutral and keeping it highly competitive at the same time. How did he do it? And what key role did IFCO play?
IFCO reusable packaging containers are crucial to create efficiencies and reduce the environmental impact of HelloFresh.
Solving packaging challenges through innovation
"After years of pushing recycling programs, it’s clear that consumers are still confused on what can be recycled in their local pickup system, and frustrated with the variety between municipalities and even pickup companies." argues Yorzyk. "Packaging should do what it needs to do, no matter what a customer does. It should be recyclable, reusable, or compostable – or even all of these at once!"
As a result, HelloFresh has pioneered a number of innovative single-use packaging solutions, including water-based ice packs, and continues to support research and development in this area. The goal is the continuous improvement of packaging solutions and to cut down on the need for excess packaging, while maintaining the high degree of food safety and quality that is critical to customer satisfaction.
As Yorzyk points out, with consumers, packaging once discarded has an uncontrolled end of life and any single-use packaging needs to be designed so it will never become a wildlife or environmental hazard.
"In a commercial capacity, where we can control the use, capture, and reuse of packaging more tightly, durable items that can be maintained and sanitized really start to shine," he believes. "Where we can utilize reusables, it makes sense to use more durable items such as the IFCO crates and pooling system."
Finding a mission-driven partner with the best solutions
"The IFCO RPCs meet a core logistical challenge on the internal side, and they do it well," continues Yorzyk. "We’re moving so many things around all the time that if the IFCO RPCs were not collapsible and we had to stage them fully expanded, we would need bigger facilities."
The collapsible design and circular approach to pooling of IFCO RPCs brings many benefits. As Yorzyk explains, it allows the company to:
- Reduce the physical footprint of the production sites
- Target carbon emissions reduction through reusables
- Minimize food waste
- Prevent packaging waste
- Protect produce from damage and extend produce shelf life -Maintain the high quality of the individual meal kits
"The IFCO RPCs really help us in meeting our sustainability goals," says Yorzyk. "They maximize our ability to use our facilities more efficiently and help minimize food waste. They also help us to reduce the need to recycle cardboard. We will continue to rely on and look for ways to increase our use of IFCO RPCs. We’re always looking for ways to reduce the waste stream of cardboard that enters our supply chain."
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