- With a 30 million unit annual capacity, the new facility will help IFCO avoid the movement of 4 million empty and dirty RPCs to Spain each year
- Improved technology ensures efficient label removal and drying process
Lisbon, Portugal – IFCO SYSTEMS , a leading provider of reusable packaging solutions, will open a new washing center for reusable plastic containers (RPCs) in Portugal. With these new facilities, IFCO increases its washing capacity to improve efficiency and offer better customer service. As part of the continuous innovation process, the facilities contain improved technology to ensure an efficient label removal and drying process. The new washing center will triple IFCO’s washing capacity in Portugal to approximately 30 million RPCs per year.
Increased storage and wash capacity
IFCO’s new washing center is located in Azambuja, near the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, and is just 500 meters from the IFCO warehouse. With 7,200 m² of covered area and 4,000 m² of uncovered area, these facilities offer enough storage space to improve the availability of CPRs for both Portugal and Spain. In the new center, IFCO will wash the Portuguese market RPCs as well as the RPCs mostly imported from Spain.
With over 50 employees, eight loading and unloading truck docks and innovative technology, the new washing center will triple its washing capacity in Portugal. The facility has the capacity to wash 90,000 RPCs per day, equivalent to approximately 30 million RPCs per year. By increasing its capacity, IFCO will have the ability to wash RPCs from other markets, mostly from Spain. By washing them directly in Portugal, IFCO avoids the transport to Spain of approximately four million empty and dirty RPCs per year.
Innovative technology for food safety
IFCO RPCs are used to transport fresh foods such as fruits and vegetables, bread, meat, fish. In the food industry safety is the top priority, whether it be food, suppliers, employees or consumers. To this end, IFCO ensures strict global hygiene and sanitation standards in all its washing facilities. RPCs are laundered to the highest RPC industry standards and to the strict HACCP plan. IFCO washing centers are equipped with state-of-the-art cleaning and drying equipment. The new facilities at Azambuja contain an innovative centrifugal drying machine, which meticulously dries out the RPCs to improve washability and ensure that there are no wet RPCs during winter.
IFCO has already installed water recycling equipment in several of the washing centers, which reduces the amount of water used during the washing process. Additionally, the company uses technology to save energy by combining heat and generated energy. As the industry’s most advanced wash monitoring technology, IFCO’s SmartGuardian ™ system measures and monitors key parameters such as water flow and temperature, pump pressure, contact time as well as detergent and disinfectant concentration. The system continuously monitors washing processes and provides consumers with verifiable and proven data.
Source: IFCO Portugal