Iceland, the frozen food retailer, has formed a partnership with CHEP for a European multi-modal pallet relocation service which involves moving some 1,200 CHEP pallets a week from the UK to Spain on behalf of Iceland.
Iceland supply chain director John Mackie said: “We view collaborations like this one with CHEP to be fundamental to our business moving forward. The benefits are clear for all to see, both from an economic perspective, but perhaps more importantly from an environmental perspective. Our business has a responsibility to become more sustainable and I’m thoroughly looking forward to developing this initiative with CHEP further.”
CHEP collects empty pallets three times a week from the retailer’s branch in Warrington, north-west England, then ships them to Bilbao, northern Spain. The pallets then continue their journey by rail to Seville using a rail service that would otherwise be empty.
The final leg of the journey from the station to CHEP’s service centre is completed by truck. CHEP then sorts the pallets, reconditions them and redistributes them to nearby customers.
The initiative helps rebalance CHEP’s pallet pool from the UK to Continental Europe. Every year, CHEP receives approximately 10 million more B1210A standard UK pallets from Continental Europe than are shipped in the opposite direction. CHEP must therefore rebalance its pool by moving this surplus stock back to Continental Europe.
