VRR and other ULD industry leaders endorse ULD Climate Impact Label

It’s official! At this year’s ULD care conference in Istanbul, VRR’s Innovation Engineer Louise Patell, on behalf of ULD Care, announced the official endorsement of the ULD climate Impact Label.

Key industry stakeholders, among which off course VRR, signed a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) during the popular annual conference. In doing so, we all have demonstrated our commitment to this innovative label's widespread adoption and implementation.

New label, increased focus on sustainability
The ULD Climate Impact Label provides a transparent and easily understandable system for evaluating the environmental impact of Unit Load Devices. This sets a new standard for environmental sustainability within the air cargo industry. The label focuses on three environmentally friendly areas:

1. Reducing the weight of ULDs
   Reduced ULD weight directly translates to lower fuel consumption and reduced CO2e emissions during air freight operations.
   
   
2. Extending the lifespan of ULDs
   Ensuring the long-term availability of spare parts extends the lifespan of ULDs, minimizing the need for frequent replacements and thereby reducing waste and environmental impact.
   
3. Giving ULDs a second life
   The label assesses the recyclability and reusability of ULD materials at the end of their operational life, encouraging responsible end-of-life management and resource optimization.

We hope that a universal labelling system will highlight the crucial role of ULDs in minimising air freight's carbon footprint, help our customers make more informed decisions, and encourage companies to extend their sustainable practices.

Driving collective action
This is a very proud moment for us. Just one year ago, VRR Sales Manager Ben Lakerveld pitched the idea of an industry-wide sustainability label for ULDs at the ULD Care Conference 2023 in Athens. Since then, there has been intense collaboration with a selection of leading ULD Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), pooling companies, and airlines (including KLM and ACL Airshop) to bring this labelling scheme to life.

A phased roll-out
A central authority and documentation system will be established to manage the label. At first, the ULD Climate Impact Label will only be launched for the AKE (Aircraft Lower Deck Containers), after which it will be extended to other containers. There are also plans to introduce additional environmental factors such as ULD lifecycle emissions, repairability and durability.

We do not have an implementation date yet, but we’ll let you know as soon as we hear anything. Sign up for our newsletter to be informed as soon as possible.