Greener Logistics with Flexible Packaging Solutions

Since the United Nations proposed the goal of carbon neutrality, there has been a global upsurge in carbon neutrality. In March 2021, President Xi Jinping proposed to incorporate "carbon peaking" and "carbon neutrality" into the overall layout of ecological civilization construction, so as to achieve carbon peaking by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060 as scheduled. In order to achieve the "dual carbon" goal, the state has issued a number of work plans, including measures to increase capital investment related to carbon emission reduction, "dual carbon" related funds, and reduce the carbon emission intensity per unit of GDP.As a liquid packaging manufacturer, LAF Technology has also been contributing to carbon emission reduction.

LAF Technology is a packaging enterprise integrating R&D, production, sales，and service, it continues to design and develop efficient, convenient, green packaging products through innovation. LAF Technology has launched flexitank and container liner to transport large volume non-hazardous liquids, free-flowing powders, and granules, both are very popular among customers. Every year, around 6 billion liters liquid are packed and transported with LAF flexitanks, and around 2 billion kilograms of powder and granules are shipped with LAF container liners. Both energy consumption and carbon emissions are both reduced during the transportation.

Taking flexitank as an example, compared with other traditional liquid packaging products, flexitank is a one-trip transportation product that does not need to be returned, which can reduce energy consumption for one trip, will greatly save the energy consumption of road and sea transportation, especially in long-distance transportation. Moreover, after unloading, the flexitank does not need to be cleaned, which can directly save the transportation energy consumption of transporting the empty box to the cleaning location and returning it. Furthermore, because the flexitank itself is lighter, it also saves the consumption of the transportation package itself during the transportation of liquid. All these can directly reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

In addition, a single 20GP flexitank can carry more liquid than other traditional liquid packaging products. Taking steel drums as a sample, a 20GP container can load 80 steel drums with 17,600L liquid, or one flexitank with 24,000L liquid. On average, a 20GP container with one flexitank could load 6,400L more，around 36% more instead of steel drums. Under the high sea freight rate in epidemic situation, “more payload in a single trip” will directly reduce the carbon emissions generated in the ocean transportation.

Furthermore the production process of steel drums consumes a lot of energy. In China it takes 2.28 million tons of steel plate to produce 120 million new steel drums each year, and every ton of steel produced will emit 1.82 tons of carbon dioxide, which means that 4.1724 million carbon dioxide emissions will be generated due to the steel drums production each year. Energy consumption and carbon emission in the process of flexitank manufacture is quite a small amount.

Drums still need a large number of pallets for storage and transport. More than 90% pallets are wooden pallets, trees lost for producing pallets could have absorbed a remarkable carbon dioxide. In contrast, flexlitank do not require any pallet, and except the innermost layer having direct contact with liquid, its steel bars, bulkhead, lining paper, etc., can all be recycled for further use.

The wide promotion and use of flexitank in chemical, petroleum, food, feed and other non-hazardous liquid industry transportation, taking place of other traditional packaging products, will reduce the energy consumption and carbon emission in various industries and enterprises in the operation process, benefit the environment, help to reduce the carbon emission.