IFCO cites gains in ESG 2023 report
Leveraging billions of RPC shipments, reusable packaging container supplier IFCO has released its latest ESG report.
Titled "Thriving through circularity," the report details progress IFCO has made on its Environmental, Social and Governance 2025 Strategy during fiscal year 2023. The document provides an extensive overview of the company's activities and achievements in three core areas — Thriving Business, Thriving Planet and Thriving Society — against the baseline year of 2020, according to a news release.
Publication of ESG 2023 report confirms that sustainability remains top of mind for everyone who works at and with the company and for everything that the company undertakes, IFCO CEO Michael Pooley said in the release.
"As we look back over the past year, I am immensely proud of the progress we have made on our ESG goals,” Pooley said. “As we step up our activities, we continue to scale up our positive impact on the global fresh grocery supply chain, on our society and on our planet. We are absolutely determined to inspire our industry to reject harmful single-use packaging as a way to reduce waste, protect fresh products and combat climate change. But we are not finished yet.
"By continuously striving to improve the IFCO SmartCycle, our sustainable circular pooling system for reusable packaging containers, we want to bring more partners along with us," he continued. "Together, we will ensure that future generations get to live on a thriving planet."
In creating reusable, 100% recyclable packaging that is made to last and used again and again over a long life cycle, IFCO is championing the reuse and recycling of packaging in the fresh grocery supply chain, Inigo Canalejo, vice president of ESG and strategic marketing, said in the release.
"Our RPCs already perform to high sustainability standards,” Canalejo said. “That's not enough. We are investing in measures that will bring us closer to becoming a net zero, zero waste business that is firmly rooted in the principles of the circular economy. The IFCO ESG 2023 Report confirms that we are making progress and are on track to achieve our ambitious goals."
IFCO says its RPCs are used in over 2 billion shipments of fresh produce every year, reducing waste throughout the supply chain and demonstrating the clear benefit of a consistent, strong commitment to sustainability. The use of IFCO RPCs in the global fresh grocery supply chain generates more carbon dioxide savings than all the Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions across IFCO's entire global operations, according to the release.
IFCO says the ESG 2023 report also highlights how the company closely collaborates with supply chain partners — from producers to retailers and transportation partners — to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and target waste along the entire global fresh grocery supply chain.
Successful partnerships have resulted in a reduction of the number of trucks on the road for one partner in the U.K., optimization of the RPC pooling flow for a specific fresh product category for an Italian producer and the implementation of alternative fuel options for transportation partners in the U.S., the release said.
Key IFCO highlights from the report include, according to the release:
- Replaced 2 billion single-use packaging units with IFCO RPCs.
- Awarded Sustainalytics 2023 ESG Regional Top-Rated company in Europe.
- Increased the average recycled content for each RPC to 40%.
- Achieved a 12% reduction in overall Scope 3 emissions.
- Achieved a 6% reduction in freshwater use per RPC.
- Renewed the Cradle to Cradle Certified Silver certification for the European Lift Lock generation of RPCs
- 32% of IFCO managers are female.
- Donated 69,000 RPCs to food banks around the globe.
The report conforms to international sustainability reporting standards, including the Global Reporting Initiative and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board, according to the release.
