We join forces with partners across our supply chain to develop solutions that contribute to a better future and enable others to reduce their own environmental impact. For example, we’ve teamed up with Tosca to switch most of our product distribution in Europe from wooden to plastic pallets, saving CO2 and reducing waste in the process, and we’re helping our supply chain partners make the switch as well.

Plastic pallets have many advantages over wooden pallets. They are lighter weight and more durable, so they can be re-used more often and are less prone to breakages, helping reduce the risk of damage, reduce waste in the supply chain, and reduce CO2 emissions. Tosca estimates that its plastic pallets can be used over 100 times, and at end-of-life they are recycled.

About a year ago we started trialing the Tosca program with one of our customers in Ireland, CCL, the  world's largest converter of pressure sensitive and extruded film materials for labels and a wide range of other applications in packaging and beyond.

We spoke with Eamonn Burke, Warehouse Manager at CCL’s Dublin location, about the impact the Tosca pallet program has had on their performance and goals.

What was your motivation to participate in the Tosca pallet trial?

CCL Dublin is a plastic pallets only factory; we use plastic pallets for all of our storage requirements. We switched from wooden to plastic pallets to reduce waste and improve our sustainability. As we already had a plastic pallet policy, the Tosca system hasn't changed our strategy. However, previously we purchased our own plastic pallets from another supplier. Being able to use Tosca’s pallets rather than buy our own appealed to us for cost reasons.