Reusable Transport Box
What innovations does Fraunhofer CCPE offer for developing a circular reusable transport box for food shipping?
The requirements determined for this use case are higher than those of average goods shipping:
- Compatibility with standardized logistics systems, e.g., EPAL
- Compliance with cold-chain requirements through thermal insulation
- Efficient cleaning, puncture resistance, minimization of dissipative losses
- Energy and resource efficiency
- Maximizing cooling duration
- Prevention of unauthorized access
- Temperature and position monitoring
- User interface for user interactions along the logistics chain
Fraunhofer CCPE solution approaches implemented in the demonstrator:
- Insulating particle foam based on PLA (biopolymer)
- PLA particle foam is laminated with PLA film (mono-material construction)
- Separation of cooled goods and non-cooled goods
- Integration of passive cooling packs
- Lid with innovative closure system
- Sensor integration in lid for data acquisition
- Digital twin and E-Ink display to promote transparency and efficient logistics
Development of the reusable transport box combines innovations from various Research Departments (RD) of Fraunhofer CCPE. These include particularly washable and impact-resistant PLA grades as well as food-safe and odor-optimized secondary materials, sensor integration, digital twin, and the mono-material approach for efficient recycling.
The circular reusable transport box: https://www.ccpe.fraunhofer.de/de/aktuelles/newsletter/2025/mehrweg-transportbox.html