“A major supermarket has recently converted their stretchwrapping operations in their NDC`s to use the latest Coreless stretchfilms, saving on both cost and environmental impact, why don`t you?”

Case study details:

A major UK supermarket looked at various methods of securing loads on pallets and cages for distribution to sites throughout the UK.

The stretchfilm that they were using was a conventional film 14mu in thickness and we were invited to put forward suggestions as to how this volume could be reduced.

Site audits followed at four main RDC`s to evaluate how the film was currently used, the pallet integrity once wrapped and any other issues that may arise from their operators using film.

From these audits it became abundantly clear that they had issues with the current film and how it was being applied, it was too sticky and poorly wound, but also there were extreme levels of waste being created at each site with unused film still on cores for disposal.

A meeting with Central Team was called to highlight these issues and the project took on a new dimension. We explored ways of reducing and possibly eliminating the waste and while the original plan to improve yield was to test a 7mu pre-stretched film, this was extended to include a coreless pre-stretched film.

On average they were scrapping the last 60 metres of film on each reel, the worst scenarios highlighted 200mtrs from a 300mtr roll. The average still represented a 20% average wasteage, and when taking into account the need for staff to cut film off cores for disposal with waste plastics, the cost was significant to their business. They had re-cycling collection for cardboard and plastics which obviously needed to be segregated.

Each core weighed around 300 grammes and a typical site visited used 5,000 rolls each month, equating to 1.5 tonnes of cardboard waste just from the core each month or 18 tonnes per annum. The average film waste equated to 1.55 tonnes per month or 18.5 tonnes per annum, which equated to nearly 12,000 full rolls wasted per annum per site!!

Trials were arranged with Coreless pre-stretched film with a re-usable insert at each site. The results were impressive. After an initial small roll-out with training in best practice provided by the manufacturer, film waste was reduced to an average of less than 2 metres per roll, mostly due to the inserts not being used correctly or not at all.

Over the four sites, the business saved the need for baling and disposal of the cardboard cores to the value of 72 tonnes and the costs associated with disposal , reduced film waste to less than 1 tonne across all four sites against the 74 tonnes they were previously experiencing, and in addition halved the number of rolls purchased and stocked by using a 600mtr roll instead of a 300mtr roll, saving on the number of vehicles needed for the additional deliveries required previously.

This system has now been rolled out to other smaller DC`s.