Office Furniture Manufacturer Haworth Reduces Supply Chain CO2 Using Reusable Wrappings

Indianapolis — September 22, 2018 — Working with one of the world’s largest office furniture manufacturers, a Midwest trucking company has discovered it can reduce carbon dioxide emissions approximately 20 percent by shipping products protected by reusable wrappings and equipment instead of cardboard boxes.

If the practice became widespread, the reduction in carbon dioxide emissions in the United States could be staggering, said Andy Card, president and CEO of Perkins Logistics, based in the Indianapolis suburb of Noblesville.

“We were amazed at how shipping chairs and tables wrapped in protective blankets instead of cardboard containers could translate into such a sizable reduction in carbon dioxide emissions,” Card said.

Testing Green Packing Methods

An independent study conducted by an Indianapolis research company showed that Perkins Logistics was able to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20 percent per pound shipped during a two-month test period, using specialized wrapping methods to ship some orders of products from the Bruce, Miss. plant of Haworth Inc. to customers in 16 states. Haworth, headquartered in Holland, Mich., is the world’s third largest office furniture manufacturer, with sales of about $1.66 billion last year.

Taken over a year’s time, the reduction in carbon dioxide emissions would be more than 283 metric tons — the equivalent of removing 52 passenger cars from the road for a year or emissions from heating 99 homes with natural gas, according to the study by Allegiant Global Services in Indianapolis. Founded in 2002, Allegiant Global is a consulting firm that studies byproduct management for clients and offers creative solutions to reduce their waste.

Card said that Perkins method of using blankets, straps, bars and plywood tiers allowed the company to fit an average of about 65 percent more products into its trailers, reducing the number of loads needed and eliminating cardboard waste.

Customers Onboard

A Haworth official said he was pleased with the results from the two-month test, and the company is assessing its more widespread use. “Packaging methods play a significant role in shipping efficiencies, but only after conducting a thorough investigation did we determine that a few fundamental changes in this area could also help reduce one element of the total carbon footprint of our products, taken over their useful lives,” Haworth’s Global Transportation Manager Henry Oosterhouse said.

Oosterhouse said Haworth agreed to participate in the study because the corporation supports initiatives that seek to reduce the carbon footprints of products at all points along their supply chains, which help to promote climate neutral operations. “And while it took some added effort on our end, our customers said they appreciated avoiding the labor of unpacking boxes and disposing of cardboard waste,” he added.

Taken from http://www.sdcexec.com/