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3 things we’re doing to reduce packaging materials
As of April 1st a new regulation regarding use of packaging materials from the EU becomes effective.
This presents a great opportunity to revise our current packaging materials and reconsider their effectiveness. We’re taking into account their environmental ramifications as well as their ability to protect the instruments during transit. It is important that goods are intact when they reach you so you can keep operations running and we want to ensure that! So below is a list of the 3 things we’re doing now to accommodate the producer’s expanded responsibility regulation:
1. We’re looking at the foam boxes currently in use for our A37 pressure gauges with OPF. While this type of foam is really effective in terms of protecting the instruments, they are not the most environmentally friendly. Our goal is to find an alternative that is just as efficient in terms of keeping the instrument safe in transport and has a lower carbon footprint.
2. We’re researching options to replace our OPF cardboard boxes. The OPFs are quite delicate and consist of many electronic components that require proper protection during transit and the current cardboard boxes do not properly protect the OPFs without an extra foam insert. We want an all-in-one solution box where the extra foam isn't needed.
3. We’re cutting down the number of different shipping boxes. Sometimes the instruments don’t take up the entire space of the box we ship them in and we use foam filling or paper to secure the contents. Although we cannot completely avoid it, we want to reduce the amount of filling used in the boxes.
Needless to say, these changes don't happen overnight and we consider it an ongoing process where we're constantly evaluating various packaging solutions. This happens in close collaboration across different departments, considering inputs from production as well as logistics. The three initiatives listed above are just the beginning and we welcome the EU regulation as an opportunity to reassess exisiting solutions.
The requirement for companies to register packaging materials is the first step in the process of expanding the producers’ responsibility when it comes to the packaging materials used and distributed to international markets. The goal is to ensure that no more packaging than what is necessary is produced and that the materials in circulation are properly handled and recycled when possible – all in aspiration for EU-based companies to lower emissions stemming from packaging materials.