Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd have announced plans to use plastic pallets in their logistics operations in Germany.
From autumn 2020, the retailers will gradually replace the classic 80cm x 60cm wooden pallets with plastic alternatives developed by Walther Faltsysteme.
The 'Kunststoff Düsseldorfer Palette' (KDP) is completely recyclable and developed from one third recycled material, the retailers saod.
'State-Of-The-Art'
"Technologically, plastic pallets are state-of-the-art, and a real innovation for optimising supply chains in the food retail sector," said Stefan Ruhland, director of logistics management at Aldi Süd
The pallet can carry a static load of up to 1,000kg and a dynamic load of 500kg, and is suitable for common conveyor systems, according to Aldi.
The pallets are to be made available to suppliers via a pooling system operated by Polymer Logistics.
“The pooling service provider can track how many pallets are in the depots at any time, at the supplier and at the dealer. This also means less pallet shrinkage,” added Arne Ringkowski, team leader for return logistics at Aldi Nord.
© 2020 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Elizabeth Schroeder. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
