Sustainability through Eloorac
Transport Rack Solutions
Cleared forests from space, bird’s eye view and from the ground.
On this page we would like to point out the current location of our forests. The insatiable hunger for wood means that entire regions of the world are being deforested in undreamt-of amounts. Forests that have grown over centuries are being cleared for consumer goods such as pellets, paper, toilet paper, paper cups, serving items, cheap furniture and, of course, wooden packaging such as disposable transport racks. The industry is insatiable and cries out for more. Some industries needed twice as much wood from Eastern Europe last year (2018) as in the previous year. These increases are the result of a single reason:
WE consume too much resources and think too little about our environment.
It is time to take a more critical look at this topic. For this reason we have decided to present some facts about how the transport industry works today and how we at Eloorac offer an alternative that benefits the environment. Some reports, also in the form of videos, show the grievances in the forestry industry. What is striking is that none of the videos deals with the industry’s one-way policy. It has therefore not yet been recognised what damage is caused daily by the use of disposable wooden racks.
9.1 » 9.0 | Sustainability
ONEWAY wooden transport racks
Sad but true! The following pictures show wood transport frames that have only been or will only be used for ONE delivery.
Wood from trees that had to grow for 70 to 150 years is felled for obvious garbage transport racks. After e.g. glass was transported 20 to 100 kilometers on these one-way racks and arrived at the customer and/or dealer, these must worry about the disposal and that actually still “new” and for the environment valuable material, dump expensively.
Large containers are often ordered on large construction sites. The disposer is pleased to write the client a nice invoice for the disposal. Disposal is then often carried out in incineration plants. As I said, the trees took 70 to 150 years to grow.
If no containers are used for disposal, employees have to spend hours cutting the disposable transport racks. That’s going to be really expensive again.
Delivering on one-way racks is very expensive as these are used only once as already written. Ultimately, the use of disposable racks means that a new glass frame has to be purchased, organised, stored and, above all, planned every time it is delivered. This means that unnecessary acquisition costs, storage costs, organisation and planning costs as well as transport costs for new one-way racks are incurred time and again.
In some companies we have been informed that the acquisition costs for disposable racks are up to half a million euros per year. How many trees do you think will be felled each year for these companies only?
9.2 » 9.0 | Sustainability
The dubious use of valuable material
Sad utilization balance of a transport rack which is used only once. Certainly individual glass panes must also be shipped. However, it would be good if the transport racks could be retrieved and reused.
Huge quantities of trees must be felled for consumption in the Western world. The use of this material, which is important for the environment, is often shameful. First and foremost, waste products are produced from it.
9.3 » 9.0 | Sustainability
Dismountable transport racks as an alternative
Delivering on one-way racks is very expensive as these are used only once as already written. Eloorac glass transport racks are proven to have been reused X times. Ultimately, the use of one-way racks means that a new glass frame has to be purchased, organised, stored and, above all, planned each time it is delivered. This means that unnecessary acquisition costs, storage costs, organisation and planning costs as well as transport costs for new one-way racks are incurred time and again.
1. Enormous space saving
A lot of Eloorac transport racks can be created from individual system parts that take up incredibly little space.
2. Frame sizes on request
A standard set consists of 2 upright A-parts and a crossbar. For example, build a 240 cm long transport frame from 2 sets.
9.4 » 9.0 | Sustainability
Eloorac retrieve transport racks
Left: This product has a distance of 800 kilometres to the customer behind it. It is a dealer who is supplied again and again. As soon as the warehouse keeper has packed, dismantled and stacked the Eloorac racks, they are transported back to the manufacturer by an inexpensive standard forwarding company. Right: The racks are back at the manufacturer. Some of these Eloorac´s were already 20 times in use. The way it looks, they can do as much again. This is how Eloorac works.
Yes, I can. We regularly ship our Eloorac transport racks, packed in a carton, all over the world. The furthest shipment went to Australia. Of course, this only happens with small quantities or sample racks. It is also possible to pick up an Eloorac frame packed in a cardboard box by parcel service. The carton is simply enclosed with the goods to be delivered and can then be used as a return carton. Everything already done.
9.5 » 9.0 | Sustainability
Are glass transport frames made of metal sustainable?
No. Empty metal racks must be transported back to the supplier. This can only be guaranteed with considerable effort. Metal racks still require a relatively large amount of space on the truck surface during return transport. Also these bulky racks must be picked up by the own truck since normal forwarding agents cannot handle the metal racks.
The return of empty metal racks is therefore very cost-intensive and out of proportion to the return of dismantled Eloorac glass racks. The argument that the trucks drive back anyway and can therefore take the empty metal racks with them is often not seen objectively enough. Just think: Trucks that drive empty through the area cause high costs. Even if there are empty metal racks on them.
For the delivery with Eloorac racks, forwarding agents can be ordered. Due to the pallets used, Eloorac´s is “forwarding friendly”.
By the way: freight forwarders are capable of learning. Many Eloorac users already have their pallets delivered by freight forwarders.
Space is needed for empty metal transport racks. Not only on your own farm. The space required on construction sites is particularly annoying. Anyone who delivers to large construction sites has had to devote himself to the telephone call of an angry site manager. There is simply no place in the world for empty racks that are often picked up weeks later.
These trucks don’t make any money. They just drive around empty racks. We do not know of any company that has become rich in this way. On the contrary, tolls: missing truck drivers, sick drivers, high wear and tear costs for the vehicles… All this makes a company lose money.
High losses of metal frames per year
In the glass and window industry, considerable damage is caused every year by the loss or theft of metal frames. No wonder. If no one picks up the frames or if they do, they are disposed of or used very late. It is spoken here of an annual loss at a value of approx. 10 millions euro. This can be equated with a number of at least 25,000 metal frames.
9.6 » 9.0 | Sustainability
Extra tours to construction sites to retrieve empty transport racks are no longer necessary
The Eloorac system stands out from other transport systems in one respect in particular. 1. by simply retrieving empty racks and 2. by saving CO2. Calculations showed that up to 88% CO2 can be saved by the Eloorac transport system compared to conventional systems. Assuming the diversity of use of the Eloorac racks and the many different industries that are supplied in the meantime, CO2 savings of many millions of tons can be achieved.
Left: Empty metal glass transport racks are a thorn in the side of every building owner and site manager. The retrieval is only very complex and thus cost-intensive to arrange.
Right: After the glass has been installed on site, the fitter packs the dismantled glass transport frames into his assembly vehicle or onto the trailer. Advantage: Trucks no longer have to make the sometimes very long journey to the pick-up location. Once the assembly team is back in the workshop or at the dealer’s, the Eloorac Transport racks can be easily stacked and temporarily stored.
Right: After the glass has been installed on site, the fitter packs the dismantled glass transport frames into his assembly vehicle or onto the trailer. Advantage: Trucks no longer have to make the sometimes very long journey to the pick-up location. Once the assembly team is back in the workshop or at the dealer’s, the Eloorac Transport racks can be easily stacked and temporarily stored.
As soon as several construction sites have been completed and some empty glass transport racks have been collected, either the glass manufacturer’s truck or some standard haulage company can pick up the pallets with the dismantled Eloorac transport racks from the dealer and transport them back to the glass manufacturer. Assuming that the trucks only drive once to the construction sites to deliver the full glass transport racks and that there is no need for a second journey to the same place to pick up the empty racks, savings in transport costs of around 30% – 50% can be expected.
More Informations
9.7 » 9.0 | Sustainability
Interesting relationship between space use and benefit
That’s right. Here are 230 Eloorac transport racks. It’s not the highest model but it doesn’t matter. At higher Eloorac´s the pallets would only be one meter longer. This illustration should make it clear that the Eloorac system has a lot of potential, not only in terms of saving space, but also in terms of load-bearing capacity. It has been proven that 350 tons can be transported with this model. By the way, there are extensive test documents for the Eloorac transport frames.
Here you can see that the distance between the upright A-parts can be very narrow due to the slots in the crossbars. The standard crossbar, which is usually used with an Eloorac transport frame, allows a minimum distance of approx. 15 cm. This makes it possible to transport even narrow glasses upright. Compared to conventional glass frames, the Eloorac glass frame can therefore save enormous transport space and CO2 emissions.
Some facts, reports and videos which impressively illustrate the current situation regarding deforestation and its consequences.
9.8 » 9.0 | Sustainability
FSC Seal – What is it and what is it good for?
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international non-profit organisation. The Bonn-based company was founded in 1993. The Council created, operates and develops the first system for the certification of sustainable forestry. The term FSC is also used for the FSC certification system as well as for the FSC mark (also called FSC logo, FSC certificate or FSC seal of approval).
“Die Story im Ersten- The exploitation of the primeval forests”
The FSC seal is put under the microscope. This SWR report is thought-provoking.
The FSC seal for sustainable forest management has been in existence for 25 years, yet the primeval forests are disappearing faster and faster. What’s the use of a seal that won’t be revoked even in the event of a conviction?
The primeval forests are disappearing faster and faster. The ongoing deforestation of the earth is responsible for more CO2 emissions than all cars and trucks put together. In order to stop the dying of primeval forests, an international organisation, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), an association for the certification of sustainable forestry, started 25 years ago. The FSC seal is considered the most important eco-label worldwide. It is intended to show the consumer that furniture, paper, decking, etc. are made from “environmentally friendly” felled wood. The FSC, based in Bonn, has so far certified forest management for more than 200 million hectares of forest, an area about the size of Western Europe.
“Die Ausbeutung der Taiga”:
Excerpt from “Die Story im Ersten”
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“Die Ausbeutung der Urwälder”:
total contribution “Die Story im Ersten”
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The authors Manfred Ladwig and Thomas Reutter draw an exciting balance: What have 25 years of FSC brought? To see whether the FSC can stop the destruction of the primeval forests, they spent months filming the global hotspots of deforestation. Their investigative research reveals, among other things, that the FSC does not remove its seal from those companies that are accused of processing illegally logged virgin forest wood. Even a company convicted of illegal logging in the Brazilian rainforest may continue to use the seal for sustainable forest management.
An investigative film about the connections between the FSC, illegal deforestation and the expulsion of forest dwellers.
A film by Manfred Ladwig and Thomas Reutter
Source: https://www.daserste.de/information/reportage-dokumentation/dokus/sendung/die-ausbeutung-der-urwaelder-110.html
Defect copy QUALITY SELECT
Greenpeace terminates its membership in the FSC, which wants to mark sustainable forestry with its seal.
In 1993, non-governmental organisations such as Greenpeace and industry representatives set up the Forest Stewardship Council to create a transnational standard. After a quarter of a century, Greenpeace International and Greenpeace Germany are terminating their membership. Christoph Thies, Greenpeace expert on forests, explains the background to this difficult decision in an interview.
Greenpeace: Despite its membership, Greenpeace has never held back from criticizing the FSC seal in recent years. Was there a concrete reason for the withdrawal at that time?
Christoph Thies: The FSC is still the only credible seal for organic forestry. Over the years, however, we have been gnawing each other’s teeth out of the primeval forests. Greenpeace has documented how FSC-certified virgin forests were cleared, for example in Russia and the Congo Basin. However, the preservation of the last intact virgin forest areas is one of Greenpeace’s core objectives. No industrial forestry is allowed to take place here – if at all, exclusively for the needs of the surrounding communities. But not on a large scale. Greenpeace must not stand for this. Read more…
Christoph Thies, Greenpeace expert on forests
Eloorac does not use material with FSC seal.
We are convinced that our transport system in itself has a much greater added value than a seal that promises that trees will be replanted, but still allows entire forests to be cleared. The fact that the FSC regards monoculture replanting as ecological is reason enough to stop boasting about FSC labelling.
The use of Eloorac ONEWAY transport racks reduces unnecessary deforestation. Of course, our transport system is made of wood. However, the proven X-times reusability of each Eloorac transport frame shows that in the end considerably fewer trees have to be felled compared to the wood consumption for one-way transport frames.
9.9 » 9.0 | Sustainability
…there are areas where whole mountain slopes slide into the valley during heavy rain because the slope has been cleared.
Eastern European forests are slowly disappearing from the map. Despite legal and environmental regulations, countries such as Romania, Poland and Ukraine are illegally felling wood. Behind this are Mafia structures. The black market makes a lot of money.
The demand for raw wood in the EU is high. Among the largest exporters are Romania, the Czech Republic and Poland. Outside the EU, Ukraine has long been a major trading partner for the European timber industry. In 2015 Ukraine tried to protect its forests with an export ban on domestic timber, but the black market flourished as a result. Just one year later the law was history again.
Since 2016, the Bialowieza forest in Poland has also been on the brink of collapse. The Polish Forestry Office approved the logging of 180,000 cubic metres of wood for a period of ten years. Local environmentalists criticise this plan as nonsensical and a possible violation of EU law. a href=”https://detektor.fm/wirtschaft/osteuropa-holzmafia/amp” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>Read more…
Hans Hedrich is an environmental activist and concerned about the long-term damage caused by illegal logging.
Podcast to the article
9.10 » 9.0 | Sustainability
Deforestation – How Europe’s last primeval forests are burned down
This video is about the general consumption of wood for our consumer goods. Certainly, transport racks are also made from the felled wood.
At first glance, North Rhine-Westphalia’s nature lovers could be satisfied: The forest balance is positive, the domestic forests are growing statistically. But this is only possible because a lot of imports are coming into the country, especially from Eastern Europe. There are illegal clear-cuts every day, which affect rare animal species, the climate and the local population.
Parts of the Romanian Carpathians, for example, are among the last primeval forests in Europe, almost untouched by humans. But although the national park is officially protected, illegal logging takes place again and again. The environmental organisation WWF estimates that 30 percent of all logging takes place illegally. The wood goes into pellet production and into Romanian chipboard factories for cheap furniture.
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Source: https://www1.wdr.de/fernsehen/die-story/sendungen/abgeholzt-100.html
9.11 » 9.0 | Sustainability
“Handelsblatt”: ROMANIA’S WALES – A paradise is being deforested
Wood is a highly political issue in Romania. Due to legal and illegal logging, an entire natural paradise in Eastern Europe is in danger of disappearing. This is not least about economic pressure.
Toplita/Campeni/Comanesti/GheorgheniFresh, clear traces of a young bear can be seen on the soft forest floor this morning in May. But there is no need to be afraid of hikers in the Apuseni Nature Park, because the wild animals are looking for faraway places in this region spared from mass tourism, even if they only smell humans. The farmer, who leads the reporter of the German Press Agency to a deforested area, is nevertheless afraid. But not from bears, but from the wood mafia. He doesn’t want to see his name printed because the police investigated him and other farmers after they blocked timber transports a year ago in protest against the logging. The investigation was closed, but the uncertainty remains.
Romania’s forests are like a crime thriller. Of the 6.6 million hectares of forest, Greenpeace estimates that three hectares disappear every hour. According to the Romanian Court of Audit, since the fall of communism 25 years ago it has been almost 400,000 hectares less. About half of the land is privately owned after land expropriated by the communists was returned to the previous owners or their descendants. Read more…
9.12 » 9.0 | Sustainability
“ZEIT ONLINE”: Deforestation of Polish jungle illegal according to EuGH expert
In Poland, trees have been felled for two years in Europe’s last primeval forest. The Advocate General at the European Court of Justice sees this as a violation of European nature conservation law.
Poland violates EU nature conservation law by deforesting trees in the protected Białowieża jungle, according to Yves Bot, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) Advocate General in charge. The spread of the bark beetle does not justify the management plan and deforestation in the jungle, Bots concludes. Cutting down trees would destroy the breeding grounds of protected species. Read more….
Source: https://www.zeit.de/politik/ausland/2018-02/polen-urwald-abholzung-eugh-schlussantraege
Poland’s natural heritage in danger – The battle for Europe’s last primeval forest (docu “arte”)
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Source: https://www.arte.tv/de/videos/072489-009-A/re-polens-naturerbe-in-gefahr/
9.13 » 9.0 | Sustainability
It’s getting hot. Is it time to do something?
According to NASA, 2018 was the fourth warmest year in the continuing warming trend.
According to independent analyses by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Earth’s global surface temperature in 2018 was the fourth warmest since 1880.
Global temperatures in 2018 were 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit (0.83 degrees Celsius) warmer than the averages from 1951 to 1980, say scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York. Temperatures worldwide for 2018 are behind those of 2016, 2017 and 2015. The past five years combined are the warmest years in the modern record.
“2018 was once again an extremely warm year, in addition to long-term global warming,” said GISS Director Gavin Schmidt.
Since the 1880s, the average surface temperature has risen by 2 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius). This warming was mainly caused by increased emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere caused by human activities, Schmidt said.
Weather dynamics often influence regional temperatures, so that similar warming does not occur in every region of the world. NOAA found that the annual mean temperature in 2018 was the 14th warmest value for the adjacent 48 United States. . Read more…
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The long-term warming of the Earth is shown in this visualization of NASA’s global temperature record, which shows how the planet’s temperatures change over time compared to a baseline of 1951 to 1980. The record is shown as a five-year running average. Picture credits: NASA Scientific Visualization Studio / Kathryn Mersmann.
This page is about Eloorac transport frames on Euro pallets and their sustainability.