Aussie founder reduces need for plastic pallet wrap

frank green founder Benjamin Young has found a way to replace pallet plastic wrap with a system of reusable Backbone Corner brackets and high-tension Loop and Lock straps that fit existing pallets.

Designed, patented and manufactured in Victoria, the No Wrap system aims to disrupt the $10 billion global packaging industry.

Australian companies use 100,000 tonnes of plastic pallet wrap every year, and 95% is dumped in landfill after just one use. The launch of No Wrap — endorsed by Sustainability Victoria — comes as the price of oil-based plastic wrap has risen by 25%.

“My vision is we stop using single-use plastic pallet wrap,” Young said. “Almost everything we buy in retail, health care, supermarkets or department stores is at some point transported on a pallet and the boxes are secured in position using plastic wrap.

“Single use plastic wrap is growing every year in Australia by about 3% and globally creates about 6 million tonnes of waste, which is obviously unsustainable and no one seems to be talking about it.

“This is not just a plastic wrap replacement. It’s the future operating system for sustainable logistics because it simply makes sense and is cheaper, faster and safer than plastic wrap.’’

Young said implementing No Wrap at his frank green Dandenong Distribution Centre eliminated approximately seven tonnes of plastic wrapping each year.

“I knew there had to be a better way to secure pallets and avoid all the plastic going into landfill, so we invented the solution,” Young said. “We removed plastic wrap from our business and cut minutes of wrapping time per pallet. Our operations team prefers it because it’s safer and easier, because there are no cutters — and our waste bins stay empty.”

Benjamin Young with the No Wrap system. Image: Supplied

Under new mandatory climate-related financial disclosures, businesses need to treat carbon emissions such as plastic use like any other cost in their profit and loss statement. Environmental, Social and Governance scores now influence access to capital, insurance premiums, and mergers and acquisition activity.

Tender requirements in retail, transport, tech and public sectors now include carbon audits, and businesses must prove they are reducing emissions or risk financial penalties, customer loss and regulatory investigation.

“Sustainability is no longer a marketing trend, it’s an operational imperative,” Young said. “Failing to act is no longer just non-compliance, it’s commercial negligence.”

Sustainability Victoria Chief Executive Matt Genever endorsed No Wrap.

“We are excited that a Victorian company has developed a world-leading innovation to help eliminate single-use plastics across our retail and logistics supply chains,” Genever said. “No Wrap is a simple concept, but with the support of Australian businesses the positive impact on our environment promises to be huge given the many tons of plastic wrap sent to landfill every day.

“frank green’s reusable containers helped eliminate millions of plastic bottles and single-use coffee cups and hopefully No Wrap can create the same transformational change with plastic wrapping.”

Watch the video below to discover how the No Wrap system is used.

Top image caption: frank green founder Ben Young using No Wrap in his distribution centre. Image: Supplied