Making logistics resources sustainable with Euro Plant Tray

By making our logistics resources more sustainable, we want to do our bit to reduce plastic waste in the chain. Euro Plant Tray is a great example of this. It is an initiative of parties from all links in the European floriculture chain to introduce a reusable plant tray series including the associated pool model. Royal FloraHolland also participates in this partnership. Jessy Lee Kemmers, consultant Logistic Resources, tells more about it.

Now, the chain mainly uses single-use plant trays, which are recycled after use. International political and social pressure created a demand for plant trays that can be used multiple times, says Jessy Lee. "Therefore, in 2021, Stiftung Initiative Mehrweg - a German foundation that focuses on transitions to reusable packaging - launched a study on a European, reusable plant trays series. From this research, EPT eventually emerged."

Step by step to multi-use
It is difficult to develop a reusable plant tray that meets the requirements of all participants. You can see that EPT therefore chose to initially develop two trays, which can replace a significant part of the Normpack trays. Of course, replacing all these Normpack trays will not be possible with these two trays, as there are more than 80 types of Normpack trays. The aim is therefore to introduce a working multi-use system step by step. The two types being developed now are similar to the common Normpack 400 series and available for a range of pot sizes from 10.5 to 13 centimetres. It is quite a large group of products that fit into this," Jessy Lee explains. There will certainly remain parties that cannot work with these particular trays, you cannot prevent that. But by starting with two trays that a sizeable part of the market can cope with, there is the greatest chance of there being enough support for the transition."

Royal FloraHolland participation
"The reason why we as Royal FloraHolland participate in this initiative is twofold: on the one hand from a sustainability point of view - it leads to less plastic waste - and on the other hand for our growers. It is very important to us that the grower's perspective is understood and included in the decisions of the Euro Plant Tray cooperative. We also see with our own cask that we are an important node in the chain. We can make a valuable contribution to how efficiently the pool system will work. We want to offer the trays to our growers in an accessible way, not through difficult detours. Discussions are now under way on exactly what such a pool system should look like."

We engage the growers by engaging with them and understanding where the challenge lies for them, says Jessy Lee. "We do this through meetings on a regular basis, for which a group of growers have signed up. We also regularly join sessions of different product groups. You notice a positive critical attitude in these meetings. Everyone is very aware of the issue of sustainability and would like to contribute to it, but the transition from a single-use to a multi-use plant tray system is not easy and will therefore have to be done step by step. We then take the input we pick up at the meetings to the table at Euro Plant Tray. In this way, we represent the voice of the grower."

On the market by mid-2024
When the trays will hit the market is not yet exactly clear, but Euro Plant Tray is aiming for mid-2024. "After the introduction of the first two trays in the 400 series, Euro Plant Tray will look at the 200 series and what other sizes are needed."

Also read:
Management column: making our logistics more sustainable
Royal FloraHolland decides to participate in Euro Plant Tray