Box makers tout cost effectiveness in new study

A new study quantifies the added cost of shipping onions from grower to retailer using reusable plastic containers (RPCs) rather than corrugated containers, says the Corrugated Packaging Alliance (CPA), Elk Grove Village, Illinois.

“Actual data provided by a large onion grower confirmed that using RPCs instead of corrugated containers increased their annual shipping costs by 10.4 percent systemwide,” says the alliance in a news release announcing the study. The full case study is available here.

“Corrugated, the proven and preferred single-use transport packaging material, remains the most economical and best choice for shipping onions, as well as other products,” says Dennis Colley, executive director of the CPA. “That advantage is realized by every stakeholder in the supply chain.”

Grower-shippers shoulder a cost increase of 15.4 percent (17 cents per case) to ship the same amount of onions in RPCs vs. corrugated boxes, says the CPA. Retailers are not exempt—they spend 9.9 percent (61 cents per case) more to receive those onions in RPCs than in corrugated containers, according to the study.

Shipping with corrugated containers, which often are made from recycled content, “enables both retailers and grower-shippers to save money due to optimized freight loads, reduced damage from collapsed pallets and loads and the avoided cost of washing, sanitizing and drying containers,” says the CPA.

End users of old corrugated containers (OCC) also can be compensated for recycling their used boxes, provided they are not coated with wax or otherwise contaminated.