How can commercial waste be better managed?
THE CONTEXT
Shops and restaurants use a significant amount of cardboard boxes, pallets and plastic film for packaging and delivering of their goods. When the delivery is completed, these materials are burnt or at best recycled. Daily and often excessive, such waste constitutes a considerable volume. With the energy transition law aiming to eradicate half of the waste produced by 2025, and in the context of the “Responsabilité Élargie des Producteurs de déchets” (REP) toughening recycling norms, the use of cardboard is increasingly difficult.
3,000
cardboard boxes thrown away
daily only at Saint Lazare Station
THE CHALLENGE
SNCF Gares & Connexions and Paris Habitat, both owners of properties that they rent out to stores and restaurants, partnered with the City of Paris and the startup Pandobac to test alternative solutions to waste management. The best waste management is avoiding to produce any waste. The goal is therefore to replace cardboard delivery boxes with reusable containers. The challenge is set in a strategic context for the train station regarding the waste management system of the railway company. The partners aim to test a new logistics chain to reduce shops’ and restaurants’ waste volume. Eliminating the use of cardboard boxes would create more free space and time for employees on the supply chain, as well as reducing related costs.
THE STARTUP
Pandobac offers a service of reusable containers for the professional transport of food goods. It's a turnkey solution: Pandobac handles washing, replenishment, and tracking. By integrating into the existing supply chain, Pandobac makes it possible to set up a sustainable, ecological and circular system.
THE PARTNERS
THE SOLUTION
The partners set up a system of reusable boxes for the clothing brand Jennyfer’s deliveries in the Saint-Lazare station. In order to replace the cardboard boxes, the clothes were packaged from the warehouse in reusable containers, delivered by an external carrier, and received by the store. The process is facilitated by a tracking system with QR code scanning at the time of reception in the store. The number of containers is recorded in an application that tracks their circulation and ensures the proper functioning of the system.