10 Jun 2024
Company believes introduction of new packing machine at its Animed online retail fulfilment centre will save 160,000 single-use plastic bags a year and save four tonnes of cardboard packaging.
Paul Imrie
Job Title
Image © familymedia / Adobe Stock
CVS has invested £800,000 on a new packing machine for its retail arm it hopes will drastically reduce the amount of packaging it uses.
The machine, fitted at its Animed online retail fulfilment centre, is expected to save 160,000 single-use plastic bags, 4 tonnes of cardboard packaging and reduce CO2 emissions by 2 tonnes per year due to a reduction in deliveries.
The machine performs a 3D scan of each product and creates a tailored box to each batch size.
Planned for a year, it has taken three months to install the kit and it is expected to handle 300,000 parcels a year.
John Hitchmough, group logistics director at CVS, said: “Caring for animals goes hand in hand with caring for the natural environment. We care about doing our job in a way that is sustainable and that does not compromise the natural environment.
“Excess and plastic packaging at Animed was a key source of CVS’ use of raw materials. So we wanted to find an alternative solution where we could package orders using more environmentally cardboard and cut excess packaging.
“Taking this step is going to significantly reduce the amount of materials we use and will help minimise our impact on the planet.”
