Echo Labs by FERCAM & DACHSER: Non-profit company with a new structure
DACHSER & FERCAM Italia has acquired 50 percent of the shares in FERCAM Echo Labs; the non-profit company will continue to operate under the name "Echo Labs by FERCAM & DACHSER".
A good idea has a future: FERCAM and DACHSER & FERCAM Italia will continue Echo Labs together in the future. Designed as a "social innovation laboratory", the non-profit company has been dedicated to the circular economy and the upcycling of packaging waste since the end of 2021. Echo Labs by FERCAM & DACHSER uses discarded disposable wooden pallets or transport crates to build wooden furniture for indoor and outdoor use, beehives, insect hotels, planters or decorative items - together with schoolchildren, social institutions or vocational integration facilities for asylum seekers. The furniture with a logistical past can now be found in many companies and public institutions in Italy.
"Echo Labs by FERCAM & DACHSER is a prime example of how environmental and social sustainability can be combined while remaining very close to the core logistics business," explains Alexander Tonn, COO Road Logistics at DACHSER. "That's why we want to support this good idea with DACHSER & FERCAM Italia and give it more room for growth."
"We are delighted that the good idea of Echo Labs is being continued in the form of a joint, non-profit commitment," explains Bettina Baumgartner, Innovation Manager at FERCAM. "Reducing and recycling packaging waste makes sense and contributes to the sustainability goals of the United Nations."
Starting signal: a break room made from 1,200 pallets
Why does logistics generate so much packaging waste? Is there no better use for discarded disposable wooden pallets or transport crates than waste? These questions led to the founding of the non-profit company at the end of 2021. Specifically, the FERCAM branch in Rome, led by Regional Manager Dino Menichetti, processed around 1,200 old pallets to build a break and lounge area for drivers. This created a prime example of upcycling in logistics, i.e. the life cycle of a discarded item is significantly extended in the interests of the circular economy.
"This innovative and practical non-profit company, which combines environmental and social sustainability, has now made a name for itself in Italy," says Dino Menichetti, who currently heads up Echo Labs by FERCAM & DACHSER. "The current work and further development of this good idea is now secured by the entry of DACHSER & FERCAM Italia."