Impact Investing Case Study - Brambles

Making logistics sustainable

As a pioneer of the sharing economy, Brambles has created one of the world’s most sustainable logistics businesses.

Brambles is an Australian logistics company, which perpetuates the share and reuse of the world’s largest pool of reusable pallets, crates and containers. With global operations spanning 60 countries, Brambles specialises in the outsourced management of this equipment and associated services.

Brambles’ platforms are the invisible backbone of global supply chains, primarily serving the fast-moving consumer goods, fresh produce, beverage, retail and general manufacturing industries. Some of the world’s largest brands trust Brambles to help them transport life’s essentials more efficiently, safely and sustainably.

Brambles’ history extends as far back as 1875, when Walter Bramble established a butchery business in Newcastle, Australia, and then expanded into transport and logistics. This continued growth and expansion resulted in the establishment of W.E. Bramble & Sons in 1925, becoming a publicly listed company on the Australian Securities Exchange in 1954. Brambles entered the pooling solutions business in 1958, buying CHEP (Commonwealth Handling Equipment Pool – a collection of pallets and transport assets) from the Australian government. A 2010 acquisition of aviation container pooling company Unitpool saw Brambles also enter the aerospace segment.

Now a global business, Brambles’ sustainability framework organises the group’s sustainable activities and goals under three broad programmes: Better Business; Better Planet; and Better Communities. As a pioneer of the sharing economy, Brambles has created one of the world’s most sustainable logistics businesses. Its circular business model perpetuates the share and reuse of the world’s largest pool of reusable pallets, crates and containers. This enables Brambles to serve its customers while minimising the impact on the environment and improving the efficiency and safety of supply chains around the world. Importantly, Brambles’ end-to-end supply chain solutions deliver operational, financial and environmental efficiencies not otherwise available through one-way, single-use alternatives. 

In brief:

• Nationality: Australian
• United Nations Sustainable Development Primary Goal #12: Responsible consumption and production
• Provides the world's largest pool of reusable pallets, containers and crates
• Reducing carbon emissions and water usage in supply chains
• End-to-end supply chain solution delivering operational efficiencies peers cannot offer
• Market leader in Europe and Latin America
• Planet positive, business positive and communities positive sustainability goals with the incorporation of 2025 targets
• Leverages sustainability, and its circular economic model, as a point of differentiation
• 3,160 megalitres of water saved in 2020
• 2.4 million tonnes of CO₂ saved in 2020
• Brambles facilitates the sharing and reusing of more than 345 million pallets, crates and containers.
• Operates in 60 countries across Europe, North America, Australia and Latin America, with the largest pooling network in both the US and Europe. 

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