By making their logistics resources more sustainable, Royal FloraHolland wants to contribute to reducing plastic waste in the chain. Euro Plant Tray is a good example of this. It is an initiative of parties from all links of the European floriculture chain to introduce a reusable plant tray series, including the associated pool model. Royal FloraHolland also participates in this partnership. Jessy Lee Kemmers, Logistics Resources consultant, tells more about it.
The chain now mainly uses single-use plant trays, which are recycled after use. International political and social pressure has created a demand for plant trays that can be used multiple times, says Jessy Lee. "That is why Stiftung Initiative Mehrweg - a German foundation that focuses on transitions to reusable packaging - started a study in 2021 into a European, reusable plant tray series. EPT was ultimately created from this research." Step by step towards reusable It is difficult to develop a reusable plant tray that meets the requirements of all participants. You can see that EPT has, therefore, chosen to initially develop two trays, which can replace a significant part of the Normpack trays. Replacing all these Normpack trays is, of course, not possible with these two trays, as there are more than 80 types of Normpack trays. The aim is, therefore, to introduce a working reusable system step by step. The two types that are now being developed are comparable to the common Normpack 400 series and available for a range of pot sizes from 10.5 to 13 centimeters. It is a fairly large group of products that fit into this," Jessy Lee explains. There will certainly be parties that cannot work with these specific trays, you cannot prevent that. But by starting with two trays that can serve a large part of the market, there is the greatest chance that there will be enough support for the transition." Participation of Royal FloraHolland "The reason why we at Royal FloraHolland are participating in this initiative is twofold: on the one hand, from a sustainability point of view - it leads to less plastic waste - and on the other hand for our growers. It is very important to us that the grower's perspective is understood and taken into account in the decisions of the Euro Plant Tray cooperative. We also see that we are an important junction in the chain with our own kegs. We can make a valuable contribution to how efficiently the pool system will work. We want to offer the trays to our growers in an accessible way without taking difficult detours. Discussions are now underway about what exactly such a pool system should look like."
Royal FloraHolland involves the growers by talking to them and understanding what the challenge lies for them, says Jessy Lee. "We do this through meetings on a regular basis, for which a group of growers have registered. In addition, we regularly participate in sessions of different product groups. You notice a positive, critical attitude in these meetings. Everyone is very aware of the theme of sustainability and would like to contribute to it, but the transition from a one-time to a multi-use plant tray system is not easy and will, therefore, have to be done step by step. We then take the input we collect from the meetings to the table at Euro Plant Tray. We represent the voice of the grower in this way." On the market mid-2024, It is not yet clear exactly when the trays will come on the market, but Euro Plant Tray is aiming for mid-2024. "After the introduction of the first two trays in the 400 series, Euro Plant Tray will look at the 200- series and what other sizes are needed."
For more information:
Royal FloraHolland
www.royalfloraholland.com