Thermo King is the leader in end-to-end, temperature-controlled cold chain solutions. With parent company Trane Technologies, it has committed to reducing its customer carbon footprint by one gigaton of CO2 by 2030. To reach this lofty goal, Thermo King sought to replace its disposable wood crating with a returnable, reusable solution for delivering auxiliary power units and diesel-powered truck lines to dealers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).
Once Thermo King designed its new reusable steel and plastic packaging system, it partnered with Reusability to recover the packaging from the company’s network of dealers and OEMs before returning to its manufacturing facilities. With the switch to reusable packaging, Thermo King checked a number of big boxes on its sustainability list. Among the largest was removing 2,000 tons of wood waste annually from landfills. Additionally, its dealer-partners no longer have disposal costs associated with the old wood crating. Another plus—moving to returnable-reusable packaging cut the company’s transportation logistics and packaging spend by 43%.