Mondial Tissus replaced wood pallets and corrugated boxes with AkyPak reusable sleeve packs, improving efficiency, reducing waste, and achieving ROI in under a year.
Mondial Tissus, France’s leading fabric retailer, has completed a major shift from wood pallets and single-use corrugated boxes to a tailored reusable packaging system built on AkyPak® sleeve packs from Corplex. The transition has reduced waste, improved handling of large-format textile goods, and delivered a payback in under one year, according to a recently released company case study.
Why Corrugated and Wood Pallets Fell Short for Mondial Tissus
The retailer faced a familiar set of challenges in textile logistics. Fabric rolls and large-format pieces did not fit well into standard boxes, resulting in improvised pallet loads that were time-consuming to secure and often challenging for store teams to unload. Corrugated boxes were used once and then immediately discarded, adding to the waste handling already present in already space-constrained stockrooms. Wooden pallets introduced ergonomic risks and required more care in handling.
At an industry trade show, Mondial Tissus discovered AkyPak®, Corplex’s line of reusable, collapsible sleeve-pack containers made from durable polypropylene. AkyPak units combine a pallet base, a foldable sleeve, and a lid, creating a rigid, reusable pallet box that can collapse for efficient returns. (For more background on sleeve-pack design and applications, see our overview article on sleeve packs.)
Custom Vertical-Storage Inserts Reduce Store Back-Room Footprint
After successful warehouse testing, Corplex collaborated with Mondial Tissus to refine dimensions and handling features. A key innovation was a custom vertical-storage insert. Normally, collapsed sleeve packs lie flat and occupy a full pallet footprint. Mondial Tissus needed a space-saving alternative.
Corplex engineered an insert system that locks the pallet, folded sleeve, and lid together into a compact bundle that can be stored upright, like a door panel. This significantly reduced the space required to store empties and made it easier for staff to keep the containers accessible without cluttering stockrooms.
The rigid sleeve structure simplified handling of large-format fabrics and reduced product shifting in transit. Warehouse teams reported faster pallet preparation, and store staff saw time savings during unloading. The elimination of corrugated boxes also reduced daily waste-handling tasks across more than 100 locations.
Environmental, Economic Benefits of the Reusable AkyPak System
AkyPak containers are designed for long service life, supporting hundreds of cycles. By removing corrugated boxes and reducing reliance on wood pallets, Mondial Tissus cut raw-material consumption and minimized store-level waste. For a retailer with a national footprint, those reductions accumulate quickly.
Economically, Mondial Tissus achieved payback on the system in under 12 months. Savings came from reduced corrugated purchases, less pallet waste, streamlined handling, and lower labor tied to box disposal. The project was fully deployed in nine months.
“By adopting Corplex’s AkyPak® container, Mondial Tissus has been able to significantly reduce its packaging costs and environmental footprint, while improving the ergonomics and safety of its employees,” said Samuel Goillon, Director of Merchandise, Flow & E-commerce. He noted that “effective monitoring of our tools”—the company’s reusable packaging assets—and very low loss rates played an important role in the project’s success.
A Model for Retailers Handling Bulky or Irregular Products, Extending Reuse to E-Commerce Packaging
Following the rollout, Mondial Tissus is now evaluating reusable packaging solutions for its e-commerce fulfillment operations, where corrugated cartons are still common. The retailer sees further potential to integrate reusable systems across multiple parts of its supply chain.
The project offers a compelling example of where reusable sleeve packs deliver the greatest value: oversized products, frequent deliveries, compressed back-room space, and a need for consistent, repeatable handling. The Mondial Tissus deployment shows how reusable packaging—when adapted with a simple but effective customization like vertical storage—can deliver strong operational and sustainability gains in retail logistics.
Visit our hub article to explore the basics of hollow-core plastic packaging, including sleeve pack walls.
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Rick LeBlanc, EMBA, is the founder and editor of Reusable Packaging News (subscribe to the free newsletter) and editor of Western Pallet Magazine. A supply chain journalist with more than 30 years of experience, he specializes in pallets, reusable packaging, material handling and related operations. Rick is co-author of Pallets: A North American Perspective and Pallets & Progress: A Collected History of Pallets and Palletized Handling 1922–1945. He is also an advisory board member of the Virginia Tech Center for Packaging and Unit Load Design. Read Rick’s full bio.
