Beverage World - October 15, 2007 - (Page 44)

BEVSOLUTIONS distribution • packaging • production • r&d • sales & marketing • supply chain the eco edition SUPPLY CHAIN Waste Management Your path to green citizenship can begin at the warehouse. by andrew kaplan W ith all the talk about sustainable operations these days, it perhaps will come as no surprise that there are a variety of ways to trim waste from your supply chains. The good news is they run the gamut from high-tech, costlier methods to the low-tech that even the most fiscally conservative company can probably find a way to get done. “Everyone talks about being green and everyone knows that being green is the right thing, but the question is, why don’t more people do it?” asks supply chain consultant Robert Stefan, of the Charlotte, N.C., USA-based Wholesale Beverage Solutions Group, Inc. “I think because until now it hasn’t been economically viable.” But Stefan says that has been changing in recent years. For example, the recycling of shrink-wrap and cardboard—two materials beverage distributors have plenty of—has suddenly become a common profit center for distributors, especially those in the United States and Europe. “With the development of the global economy with India and China consuming natural resources at a record pace, the economics of recycling and being green are different than they used to be,” says Stefan. Indeed, Stefan, who has launched a green-focused offshoot to his consulting practice, “Environmental Dynamics, Inc.” says shrink wrap and cardboard recyclers are willing to pay much bigger bucks these days for these materials. About 50 of his distributor clients currently recycle shrink wrap, with one facility alone saving $25,000 last year. “Last month we INSIDE BEVSOLUTIONS PROFIT CENTER or profit shipped 360,000 pounds of plastic, monster?— It really is up which all would have ended up in the to you, as more and more ways of generating real trash before,” he says. cash from a distribution A similar situation exists with card- center’s waste stream are being uncovered. board. “The learning in cardboard,” Stefan says, “is that you don’t really need to sell your cardboard to a recycler. You can sell it yourself to a paper mill, bypass the recycler and make more money.” In 2001, cardboard was going for around $40 a ton, he says, but today it can go for as much as $125 a ton. But why stop at cardboard and plastic? What if there were a way to reuse lift truck batteries instead of just setting them out back where they can slowly corrode and damage the environment? Now, there is. A new company, New Life Batteries, based in Philadelphia, Pa., USA, uses a method by a South African inventor that breathes new life into old batteries. The company’s owner, Benjamin Levitt, says used batteries can be put back in working order in 10 business days or SALES & MARKETING POP doesn’t have to be a wasteful proposition. PAGE 58 DISTRIBUTION There are plenty of alternative trucks being tested and evaluated by fleets, but some downsides still exist when it comes to fuels. PAGE 60 44_BEVERAGE WORLD_OCTOBER 2007 » BEVERAGEWORLD.COM http://www.beverageworld.com/

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Beverage World - October 15, 2007

Beverage World - October 15, 2007 Table of Contents Global Recycling Trends Editor’s Note CCE’s Recycling Initiative New Beverages: VeeV New Beverage Roundup Market Metrics: Green-Minded Consumers Cover Story: Earth’s Brewer Adina World Beat Beverages • Fetzer Vineyards Kim Jeffery, Nestlé Waters North America Sambazon Icelandic Water Holdings John Compton, PepsiCo North America Dennis Puffer, Coors Brewing Co. ITO EN Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. • Cuca Fresca Exports Jeff Seabright, The Coca-Cola Company Mendocino Wine Co. Doug Muhleman, Anheuser-Busch Seth Goldman, Honest Tea Supply Chain: Waste Management Production: Environmental Operations Operations Observations Packaging: Lightweight Bottles Trendspotting R&D: Eco Beverages • Ask the Expert Sales & Marketing: Green POS Materials Distribution: Green Fleets Distribution: Fleet of the Month: Manhattan Beer Distributors FleetBeat The Beverage World Top 100 Classifieds Ad Index

Beverage World - October 15, 2007

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