Pioneering reefer maker Sunswap will supply Staples Vegetables with all of its new solar and battery-powered transport refrigeration units (TRUs).

Following a 12-day trial in July, the TRUs will now be used to transport brassica crops from the Staples HQ in Lincolnshire.

By replacing the emission from a traditional diesel TRU, Sunswap’s trial removed 225.6kg of tailpipe CO2 emissions and 2.1kg of NOx gases.

Sunswap data predicted that Staples’ fleet of Endurance TRUs will remove 2.4 tonnes of NOx and 256 tonnes of tailpipe CO2 over the next decade.

As well as the environmental benefits, Staples also expects to reduce its 10-year total cost-of-ownership by 27%, and their operational expenditure by 78%.

Vernon Read, Staples MD, said: “Myself and the Staples team are delighted to commit to upgrading our technology for the benefit of lowering our costs – and lowering cost to the environment.”

Sunswap CEO Michael Lowe added: “We were pleased to conclude successful trials in July that proved and exhibited our unit’s versatility for raw foods, and we look forward to seeing our units on the road with Staples full-time.”

Topics