05 December 2019

An old pallet gets a makeover into a corner board

We have always attempted to reduce the environmental impact. Whether this be by installing solar panels on roofs of our branches, worm farming, growing our very own veggie gardens to feed our team or rain water harvesting, our team have fully embraced these sustainability initiatives.

In the freight world, a corner board is often used to protect freight in transit. Our Auckland team in New Zealand have put their creative minds to work and turned it into a branch initiative. Instead of having an old or broken pallet ending up in the landfill, the team are working to salvage the wood, then using strops to recondition them into corner boards. Compared to an average corner board that can be around $14, these are essentially free! The team have embraced this environmentally friendly and cost cutting activity, with hundreds now in circulation around our branches. Although it may seem like a basic way of protecting freight, the corner boards are strong and sturdy making them a crucial element in our supply chain.

Once the team have made up enough stock of these corner boards, we will move onto our next sustainable initiatives to reuse and recycle old pallets – you may even see these pallets being reused to make furniture!

To take a look at the process behind making the corner boards, click here.

If you have any great ideas on how we can reuse pallets, please send your ideas to sustainability_nz@mainfreight.com