Reverse Logistics Conference: Food for Thought

The handling of expired or unsold food and beverage returns almost certainly brings to mind the word “challenge” rather than opportunity.

However, those involved in the reverse logistics chain for such products have become more attuned to recycling options, according to panelists at a session at the 2009 Reverse Logistics Association Conference & Expo, which was held in early February in Las Vegas.

In cases where products are still safe to use, charitable donation options are pursued diligently, said Tom Marcellino of reverse logistics provider CLS/Inmar.

Another reverse logistics service provider, Don Rombach of GENCO, says green initiatives are causing companies to pursue recycling options. “Many companies are getting green and looking for corporate responsibility and sustainability points,” says Rombach. “The last thing they want to do is send things to the landfill.”

Rombach says GENCO’s corporate clients have been looking to the company to provide “margin enhancement” on returns for a number of years, but the view “is really taking off in the last 12 months. Companies are mining territory that has not been mined or looked into.”

If some of that territory includes recycling boxes, bottles, cans and other packaging, then recycling firms might have additional sources for material forming at the end of the food and beverage reverse logistics chain.