A Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) is a study done to determine the environmental impact of a product. The containers that have been included in the analysis are the Envirotainer RAPe2, RKNe1 and Releye® RLP.
Envirotainer RAP e2 Container:
Envirotainer RKN e1 Container:
Envirotainer Releye® RLP Container:
The competitor containers consist of a passive parcel container and two different passive pallet-in-pallet containers, all with Phase Change Material (PCM).
Based on the LCA it is evident that the majority of the CO2 impact comes from the usage phase of the container, e.g. during the flight. The single largest impact comes from the transportation of medical products, amounting to about 77 percent of the total CO2e emissions across all analyzed containers. Containers that are used more than one time may need to be repositioned, either by air, road or by sea. The return transport consists of repositions made by customer and repositions that are handled by the supplier (Envirotainer). The total emissions of the repositions are about 23 percent, depending on transport solution.
Source: Based on the LCA methodology: thorough inventory of the energy and materials required across the value chain of the different container types, calculates the corresponding emissions to the environment. LCA thus assesses cumulative potential environmental impacts.
The result of the LCA shows that the containers from Envirotainer have low CO2e impact per cubic meter of medical product compared to other solutions. The major reason for this is the ability to ship goods more effectively in an Envirotainer container, which has the benefit of large internal volume versus external volume, especially in the largest containers RAPe2. During 2022, CryoSure®, launched in November 2021, will also be included in the Life Cycle Analysis.
Furthermore, the Envirotainer containers enable a more efficient utilization of the aircraft cargo space, as they are Unit Load Devices (ULD) which means they are adapted to the inner shape of the aircraft. Being ULDs, Envirotainer’s containers can be repositioned in an efficient way, using otherwise unused cargo space – so-called courtesy repositioning – in partnership with the airlines.
In terms of the reusable containers, the remaining impact categories have minor effect on the total CO2e. Regarding the single use pallet and Parcel 60l the manufacturing and waste is responsible for about 10-15 percent.