European retailers receive a billion RPC per year

The IFCO is pleased to announce the achievement of another important milestone: one billion shipments of reusable plastic containers (RPC) per year from producers to retail stores across Europe over a period of 12 months. This record figure has been reached thanks to the continuous growth of IFCO's RPC for more than 20 years and is a confirmation of the advantages that the company offers to producers and retailers.

"We are excited to share this momentous achievement with our customers, partners and employees in Europe and around the world," stated Wolfgang Orgeldinger, executive director of IFCO. "Our continued growth is proof of the value that IFCO's RPC have for fresh food suppliers in Europe and across the world." IFCO's RPCs are used to ship fresh food in 52 countries in North America, South America, Europe, Africa and Asia.

RPC reduce costs, protect the product's quality and reduce the environmental impact and food waste in the fresh food supply chains. The annual environmental impact of shipping a billion packages of fresh produce in PRC is equivalent to the elimination of:

In addition to a lower environmental impact, IFCO's RPC system reduces costs in the supply chain, as well as product damage. With a billion shipments per year, IFCO's RPCs prevent the damage and wasting of more than 42.6 million kilos of food; a more than sufficient amount to allow 600,000 people to consume the recommended 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day.

With more than 260 million RPCs in circulation, IFCO is the leading provider of reusable packaging for the fresh food sector worldwide. IFCO handles all RPC logistics, from distribution, to cleaning, to reintroduction into the supply chain. After retail use, IFCO's RPCs are folded, collected and sent back to IFCO's service facilities, where they are sanitised and prepared for re-use.