Page 6 - Port of Hamburg | Port of Hamburg Magazine 1.2022

■ CONTAINER WORLDS
Container world innovations
For over 50 years now, the container has gained acceptance as the preferred means of transport in world trade. It also remains fit for the future.
Talking of which, sustainability, safety and reliability also remain keywords for container transport. Al- though the box in all its guises has been proving it- self ever since 1968, the container world is still on the move.
NO MORE TRANSPORT- ING THIN AIR
In global goods distribution, movement of empty contain- ers remains a complex prob- lem. Around one-third of all transported containers are empty. Demand for empty equipment is seldom in bal- ance. In times of crisis, this brings supply chains to a halt, causing costs and emis-
sions. Transport of loaded and empty containers calls simultaneously for a multitude of resources in the supply chain. “We can solve part of this imbal- ance, or at least remedy the inefficiency of ‘trans- porting thin air’,” asserts Hans Broekhuis, CEO of Holland Container Innovations, also known as 4Fold. Back in 2013, this company in the Netherlands man- aged to have the first foldable containers certified under the Container Safety Convention and by the International Organisation for Standardization. Thanks to a specific top-bottom folding technology, the volume of the 4FOLD container can be reduced by two-thirds. Four folded containers can then be made into one unit. This saves space, costs and emissions in transport. From the environment angle, especially, solutions such as this are of great interest and could fundamentally transform the container
Containers take up a lot of space when they are empty. Making them collapsible may
be a solution.
06 | Port of Hamburg Magazine | June 2022
© 4Fold
© 4fold