Reverse logistics plays a fundamental role in the final link in the supply chain. Perhaps unseemly at first, its importance is undeniable as it is the key to reusing, recycling and recirculating materials, packaging and products. Hispack puts the solutions and success stories in this area on the table, bringing brands and leading companies together.
Gisele Muñoz, director of Innovation and Development and Barcelona delegate of CEL (Centro Español de Logística – Spanish Centre of Logistics)
Sergio Gellida, Head of Technology and Process Improvement Southern Europe at XPO Logistics
Eva Calama, Container Continuous Improvement Logistics in-house Operations Management at Seat
Esther Mateu, Processes Director at NACEX
María Arriva, CMO & Business Development Director at Qaleon
How far has the integration of sustainability gone in your companies?
Eva Calama-Seat
Sustainability has been one of the company’s 6 main pillars for a couple of years now. At Seat, three areas cover this issue: the environment area, the social area and the governance area.
In terms of sustainability, electrification is an important lever for decarbonisation. In order to electrify our vehicles, we have measured the carbon footprint of each step of our supply chain, from the materials mining to the handing over the car to our customers. Our goal is to reach carbon neutrality as a company by 2050.
In the use phase, we have currently managed to reduce 25% of emissions regarding fuel-operating cars, and we want to continue trimming this back until we also use materials that are more recycled, more recyclable and much more natural. We are also working towards having the energy in our new batteries be 100% renewable and recyclable, setting our future challenge toward the circular economy.
Sergio Gellida – XPO Logistics
We are moving forward on several initiatives. For example, 98% of all our offices have low-consumption LED lighting and new offices are already LED Gold certified. In our business area, we are working towards having all our routes as optimal as possible to cut down on wasted kilometres and increase the freight loads.
We have also committed to having 25% electric vehicles by 2030. We have begun a partnership with Repsol where we have now started to use HVO fuel, which is made of hydrotreated vegetable oils, so we can reduce our CO2 by 90%.
Esther Mateu-Nacex
We started on this path toward sustainability in 2011 with 14001 certification. In the end we came up with a verified method to measure the carbon footprint of each shipment, which is information we freely and transparently give to all our customers.
The main goal is to reduce emissions that our business generates and the circularity of our packaging through ecodesign. In terms of cutting back on emissions, we had to think about how to go from a pollution-generating fleet to a more sustainable one, taking into account that a large part of the fleet belongs to franchisees. This is achieved, above all, with electrification, by bringing in lower-emission vehicles. Our objective is that 50% of our vehicles be low-emission and the other 50%, emission-free vehicles.
In terms of the ecodesign of our packaging, we work with our suppliers to find non-plastic solutions, seeking options such as cardboard, as well as cutting down on paper grade and the use of ink.
María Arrivas- Qaleon
There is a widely-held belief that technology does not generate emissions and that is untrue. Our company is fundamentally dedicated to everything that involves data use and predictive analysis in an initial phase of artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms.
What our customers ask us most for are sustainability-based technological solutions. This includes measuring their carbon footprint and energy efficiency.
Reuse and reverse logistics strategies: some examples
Eva Calama-Seat
With the Zero Waste Logistics project, we work towards implementing sustainable measures in different areas.
In terms of reduction, we have set the goal of having the part protection material, within the container, be as biodegradable as possible, as well as being able to recirculate this material. We also take part in a project with our car headlamp supplier. The headlamp currently comes fitted with plastic protectors, consisting of two small caps. Not long ago, these two caps were thrown away once the lamps were assembled on the car. Now we keep them in containers and when there are enough, we send them back to the supplier.
Sergio Gellida – XPO Logistics
An interesting fact is that 78% of millennials now consume reused products and Gen-Z, some 80%. These figures prove there is a clear trend toward reuse and recycling. And here is where reverse logistics comes in, which is why its growth is on the rise.
In our case, the transport industry, we do industrial distribution, that is, we transport orders over 25 kg, which means we make deliveries using large pallets, and we have implemented a project to recover these pallets. We also recover plastic pallets, because they can be recycled.
Esther Mateu-Nacex
As a transport company, we are working towards implementing policies to extend product service life and also be responsible as consumers and as companies for the impact this whole process creates. In this sense, over 25% of online purchases are returned.
At Nacex, we inform customers and give them the option of using the network of convenience points, instead of ordering a pick-up of this return. Nacex Shop was created so returns could be made cleanly, using this network, avoiding travel and being much more effective, as well as our intention of helping out the retail business community and neighbourhood shops through the cross-selling that occurs when customers go to pick up the returns at these points.
The digital transformation is going to help in this reverse logistic process: we are experimenting with generative artificial intelligence, virtual assistants, route optimisation, image reading to give real shipping data and augmented reality, among other examples
As a conclusion, all the participating speakers in the round-table discussion agreed in highlighting an area of improvement in reverse logistics processes and attaining a more sustainable supply chain: the collaboration between different suppliers, external partners in each field, and customers, to develop effective and sustainable solutions.
Cristina Benavides, Hispack partner
