Review of the beverage empties return flow and its environmental impact at Delhaize

Details

Supervisors

Chevalier, Philippe

Faculty

Louvain School of Management

Degree label

Master [120] : ingénieur de gestion, à finalité spécialisée

Abstract

This paper reviews the beverage empties’ reverse supply chain of Delhaize. The aim of this thesis is to give an overview of the empties’ return flow, point out the weaknesses of the system and make recommendations to improve it. The work also examines the environmental and economic performances of reusing and recycling glass bottles. The paper answers the last debate first, by studying French sources. The reusing system was used there until the end of the 20th century before moving towards one-way packaging. Today, the confusion over the environmental performances of glass recycling rises in France, making associations study the question. Then, the work analyses the current processing system of the beverage empties at Delhaize. Starting with a layout of the distribution centre of Ninove, it goes through the main processes and functions in charge of the used packaging. The volumes of processed crates and incoming trucks are analysed along with the costs of operations. The overview of the present system is used to find out future improvement possibilities for it. The study over the reusing versus recycling debate shows a strong environmental benefit with the reuse of glass bottles. Moreover, this system can also be profitable for the companies involved in the supply chain. The overview of the sorting centre in Delhaize points out a few issues. The first one assessed is the time needed to take empties’ pallets out of the storage zone, causing problems in several areas of the distribution centre. The paper proposes a possible solution through the creation of a direct outflow in the room. Another issue addressed is the breakdowns of the rolltainers’ automatic storage system. The proposal is to dismantle the machine to move towards a manual system. However, this solution would require large expenses. So, even if it would be more reliable, it is not worth the change if the breakdowns are not becoming a severe obstacle. Finally, a last recommendation is given for the crate sorting system. Although there are no concrete issues in this process, some improvement can be made. At the moment, two high rotation SKUs are manually sorted. The implementation of these in the automatic sorting system could save a lot of time and money to Delhaize. However, this idea requires technical modifications on the machinery.