Absorpole® container desiccants: a sustainable success story

Back in 2020, re-thinking and re-engineering Absorpole® to turn it into the world’s most sustainable container desiccant was a lofty ambition. Some might even say a crazy ambition given there wasn’t a massive demand. But sometimes you just have to do what is right for people and the planet and hope that it eventually pays off for the business.

The aim back then was to develop and supply a desiccant solution that would be more sustainable and even carbon-neutral. Which meant the new and improved Absorpole should aim for the following:

• Made from recycled plastic, with as much as possible being reusable or recyclable after use.
• Supplied in an optimized outer packaging.
• CO₂-neutral through raw materials, operations and a cradle-to-gate product lifecycle with a low CO₂ footprint. And offsetting the remaining, unavoidable CO₂ through certified sustainable development projects like solar energy installations or reforesting.
• Made by a company that respects human and labor rights and offers a great working environment to its employees.
• Made by a company with the Environmental Management System ISO 14001 certification.

And all this while offering reliable moisture damage protection to goods, preventing the even greater environmental burden and extra cost of cargo waste, re-manufacture, re-packaging and re-shipping.

Welcome to a world first

New Absorpole® became the first carbon-neutral desiccant on the market, made with low CO₂-footprint calcium chloride in a 100% recycled plastic housing. A housing that was also easy to separate so the plastic could be recycled or re-used again.

So job done, right? Well, not immediately. In the year after Absorpole was re-launched in 2021, one thing became apparent: Change often takes time — and mostly because it takes a little time to get the message through.

Keep on the right track

But if the new and improved Absorpole was an instant hit and welcomed with open arms by all there wouldn’t be much of a story. And certainly no moral to the tale, which is that nothing worth doing is easy — you just have to be patient and keep going.

Slowly but surely that patience and perseverance started to pay off as more and more new customers began to see what was so great. And it’s now, almost two years after the re-launch, that we’re seeing the real success of new Absorpole.

Powering the future

And it’s a success that has fueled ongoing sustainability projects and programs at Absortech. From the Return-to-Reuse (R-to-R) program that reduces waste and lowers the carbon footprint by making it easy for customers to return Absorpole desiccants and components so they can be re-used. From the two new products in the development pipeline that have sustainability as their main driver. All the way to the internal work to lower energy use and waste throughout Absortech operations. And to the Gold Standard-certified carbon offsetting projects we help support that are bringing solar power and economic opportunity to Rajasthan in India, and restoring a healthy forest ecosystem in Panama with the planting of 7.5 million trees.

Sustainable success breeds sustainable success. So don’t see this as a story with a happy ending — see it as a happy beginning with a lot more to come!

Read more about Absortech’s commitment to sustainability here. And don’t hesitate to contact us to discuss your own sustainability challenge and how we can help.