Ifco tray: Difference between revisions
GhostHellas (talk | contribs) m Added link to IFCO website |
GhostHellas (talk | contribs) m Added description of pooling |
||
| Line 9: | Line 9: | ||
== Reusable packaging == |
== Reusable packaging == |
||
The IFCO RPCs and trays are used for transporting perishable products and are available in different designs customized to the requirements of the produce. There are IFCO trays for [[Food#Fresh%20food|fresh food]], fruit and vegetables, bananas, baked goods, eggs, dairy, convenience foods, meat and fish.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Reusable packaging solutions for food|url=https://www.ifco.com/food-solutions/|access-date=2021-07-23|website=IFCO Systems|language=en}}</ref> |
The IFCO RPCs and trays are used for transporting perishable products and are available in different designs customized to the requirements of the produce. There are IFCO trays for [[Food#Fresh%20food|fresh food]], fruit and vegetables, bananas, baked goods, eggs, dairy, convenience foods, meat and fish.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Reusable packaging solutions for food|url=https://www.ifco.com/food-solutions/|access-date=2021-07-23|website=IFCO Systems|language=en}}</ref> |
||
== Pooling == |
|||
IFCO trays are only available through the IFCO pooling service. Customers of the service share the reusable containers in a continuous closed loop. IFCO SYSTEMS refer to this pooling loop as the IFCO SmartCycle<ref>{{Citation|title=IFCO SmartCycle™ - A circular approach|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBQKxrqxW-o|language=en|access-date=2021-07-23}}</ref>. |
|||
==Controversy== |
==Controversy== |
||
Revision as of 08:20, 23 July 2021
IFCO trays (also known as RPCs (the abbreviation for reusable plastic containers), or reusable containers, or reusable crates) are a type of reusable packaging solutions for transporting fresh food produce. IFCO SYSTEMS is the name of the company that first developed a pooling service for reusable plastic trays for fresh produce in 1992, when the company was founded in Pullach, Germany. IFCO is the acronym for International Food Container Organization.
They are attractive for environmental reasons due to their ease of reuse, their capability of being stacked when full of produce in many different configurations and that they can be flattened when empty for compact return to producers/shippers/growers or for storage purposes.
They are very popular among supermarket retailers when storing packets of fish, meat, or loose fruit and vegetables
Reusable packaging
The IFCO RPCs and trays are used for transporting perishable products and are available in different designs customized to the requirements of the produce. There are IFCO trays for fresh food, fruit and vegetables, bananas, baked goods, eggs, dairy, convenience foods, meat and fish.[1]
Pooling
IFCO trays are only available through the IFCO pooling service. Customers of the service share the reusable containers in a continuous closed loop. IFCO SYSTEMS refer to this pooling loop as the IFCO SmartCycle[2].
Controversy
Their adoption has generated controversy between developed countries which are consumers of produce and developing countries which are producers, primarily due to the cost of using the trays as opposed to using locally produced containers. In particular, many developing countries lack the capital-intensive infrastructure to develop and support the hi-technology plastic molding machinery necessary to produce the returnable trays. Analysis continues to compare the relative benefits of reusable trays, which require a full cycle (use, cleaning and return) versus one-time-use disposable containers which do not require return to the shipper, but instead are disposed of after one use. Disposable containers create a waste-disposal burden on recipients, while the returnable containers burden producers who must purchase containers and arrange for a return cycle.[3]
References
- ^ "Reusable packaging solutions for food". IFCO Systems. Retrieved 2021-07-23.
- ^ IFCO SmartCycle™ - A circular approach, retrieved 2021-07-23
- ^ Environmental Requirements and Market Access - Chapter 20. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. 2005. pp. 270–274. ISBN 978-92-64-01374-2.
External links
 | This vegetable-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |