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U.S. Foodservice-Fort Mill Shrinks Dependency on Plastic Wrap, Stretches Dollar with Switch to Rubber Bands
Using reusable rubber bands to secure products for storage and shipping proves environmentally friendly and cost-effective for leading foodservice company
Fort Mill, SC — August 21, 2009 — It's no stretch to say that U.S. Foodservice-Fort Mill has found a way to wrap cost savings up with environmental stewardship through a new initiative to replace plastic shrink wrap with rubber bands.
The operation's innovative application of large, reusable rubber bands instead of clear plastic wrap to secure food products for delivery has proved to be a great way to stretch the dollar. In a five-month pilot program to test the use of rubber bands in securing smaller product loads on warehouse pallets, Fort Mill used 11 percent less shrink wrap and saved nearly $8,000.
"Plastic shrink wrap is made from petrochemicals and can only be used once, but rubber bands are reusable, with an average life span of six months to a year," said Dan Harris, president of U.S. Foodservice-Fort Mill.
"We were using tens of thousands of pounds of shrink wrap in our warehouse every year to secure products on pallets while stored on racks, and we knew there had to be a more cost-effective way to manage this process," Harris said. "Replacing shrink wrap with rubber bands really helped bring our costs down and make our warehouse operations more environmentally friendly."
These are not your average rubber bands, Harris noted. "They are about 1/16 inch thick and can stretch to fit around a pallet up to 4 feet by 4 feet," he said. "While we can't replace shrink wrap in every situation, the decrease in plastic wrap use has been significant, amounting to reductions of more than 100,000 pounds of wrap per year."
This new rubber band strategy is just one example of the sustainability improvements U.S. Foodservice has implemented recently at its Fort Mill operations, Harris said. A dedicated sustainability team is aggressively seeking out new ways to reduce energy consumption, eliminate waste and add recycling programs.
"These efforts have resulted in a number of innovations that demonstrate the Fort Mill division's commitment to sustainability in three key areas: environment, products and community," the company said in a statement about the rubber band program.
U.S. Foodservice is one of the country's top foodservice distributors, offering more than 43,000 national, private label and signature brand items and an array of services to its more than 250,000 customers. The company employs 26,000 associates in more than 60 locations nationwide.
More Green Initiatives
Earlier this year, private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. (KKR), which holds a stake in U.S. Foodservice, and the nonprofit organization Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) reported that U.S. Foodservice had implemented new driver policies, business processes and truck technologies to improve its operational efficiency and reduce emissions from its delivery fleet.
As a result, during 2008, U.S. Foodservice saved $8.2 million in fuel costs and avoided 22,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions (equivalent to more than 4,400 cars) by improving the efficiency of its fleet (gallons/ton of product moved) by more than 4 percent compared to a 2007 baseline.
In the announcement, U.S. Foodservice was said to be working this year on plans to further improve fleet productivity by scaling up successful initiatives, such as driver awareness programs, automatic idle shutoff, maximum speed controls and assessing and implementing new initiatives, including improved trailer cooling practices and other technology solutions.
"We are committed to sustainability in everything we do," said Harris. "We are proud of our environmental leadership on behalf of our customers and the communities we serve."
The operation's innovative application of large, reusable rubber bands instead of clear plastic wrap to secure food products for delivery has proved to be a great way to stretch the dollar. In a five-month pilot program to test the use of rubber bands in securing smaller product loads on warehouse pallets, Fort Mill used 11 percent less shrink wrap and saved nearly $8,000.
"Plastic shrink wrap is made from petrochemicals and can only be used once, but rubber bands are reusable, with an average life span of six months to a year," said Dan Harris, president of U.S. Foodservice-Fort Mill."We were using tens of thousands of pounds of shrink wrap in our warehouse every year to secure products on pallets while stored on racks, and we knew there had to be a more cost-effective way to manage this process," Harris said. "Replacing shrink wrap with rubber bands really helped bring our costs down and make our warehouse operations more environmentally friendly."
These are not your average rubber bands, Harris noted. "They are about 1/16 inch thick and can stretch to fit around a pallet up to 4 feet by 4 feet," he said. "While we can't replace shrink wrap in every situation, the decrease in plastic wrap use has been significant, amounting to reductions of more than 100,000 pounds of wrap per year."
This new rubber band strategy is just one example of the sustainability improvements U.S. Foodservice has implemented recently at its Fort Mill operations, Harris said. A dedicated sustainability team is aggressively seeking out new ways to reduce energy consumption, eliminate waste and add recycling programs.
"These efforts have resulted in a number of innovations that demonstrate the Fort Mill division's commitment to sustainability in three key areas: environment, products and community," the company said in a statement about the rubber band program.
U.S. Foodservice is one of the country's top foodservice distributors, offering more than 43,000 national, private label and signature brand items and an array of services to its more than 250,000 customers. The company employs 26,000 associates in more than 60 locations nationwide.
More Green Initiatives
Earlier this year, private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. (KKR), which holds a stake in U.S. Foodservice, and the nonprofit organization Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) reported that U.S. Foodservice had implemented new driver policies, business processes and truck technologies to improve its operational efficiency and reduce emissions from its delivery fleet.
As a result, during 2008, U.S. Foodservice saved $8.2 million in fuel costs and avoided 22,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions (equivalent to more than 4,400 cars) by improving the efficiency of its fleet (gallons/ton of product moved) by more than 4 percent compared to a 2007 baseline.
In the announcement, U.S. Foodservice was said to be working this year on plans to further improve fleet productivity by scaling up successful initiatives, such as driver awareness programs, automatic idle shutoff, maximum speed controls and assessing and implementing new initiatives, including improved trailer cooling practices and other technology solutions.
"We are committed to sustainability in everything we do," said Harris. "We are proud of our environmental leadership on behalf of our customers and the communities we serve."
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