Lightweight recyclable wood replacement reduces airfreight transport costs and CO2 emissions
Wooden airfreight pallet replacement system, squAIR-timber, has been awarded an efficient solution label from the Solar Impulse Foundation, established by solar flight pioneer Bertrand Piccard.
SquAIR-timber, developed by trilatec of Germany, replaces wooden pallets and beams used in airfreight with comparable solutions made out of cardboard fibre which are 80% lighter than wood, lowering fuel consumption and reducing CO2 emissions from aircraft.
The lightweight elements are manufactured out of 100% recycled paper without making any concessions on payload capacity for a wooden pallet. Each metre of material can carry up to five tons with a tare weight of just 1.2 kg.
Wood has a tare weight of 3-4 kg per metre while squAIR-timber can be easily returned to the recycling loop together with other separately collected waste paper. The pallets and beams made of cardboard fibre can be used as a base for all containers and pallets.
Andreas Langemann, managing director of trilatec, said: “When transporting pharmaceutical products by airfreight, some of our customers already rely completely on squAIR-timber, because the transition to our sustainable solution is easy and reliable, especially with standardised packaging.
“We are particularly honoured to have been awarded a label from the Solar Impulse Foundation because we believe that squAir-timber perfectly embodies the combination of economic and environmental benefits.
“On the one hand, squAir-timber features massive cost and weight savings for airlines, and handling agencies have to spend less time setting up our transportation system. On the other, the weight savings are already reducing CO2 emissions from global freight transportation today.”
ULD management company Jettainer is the exclusive sales partner for squAIR-timber. Thorsten Riekert, chief sales officer of Jettainer, said: “SquAIR-timber is a really innovative system with huge potential to make air freight transportation more sustainable. We were extremely excited about this solution from the outset.
“It’s a perfect fit with our portfolio of innovative loading equipment and control solutions and with our mission of making logistics more sustainable.”
