Development of High-Efficiency Reefer Container for Circular Economy-based Cold Chain Logistics of Agricultural Products

Extreme weather events associated with global climate change substantially reduce agricultural productivity. The loss multiplies when these products are perishable and cannot survive the long supply chain before reaching the end consumers. To mitigate the risk of losing agricultural products while shipping, cold chain logistics and circular economy-based business that focus on maximizing resource utilization in the economic system, reducing and recycling waste are considered. The approaches include 1) product life extension by storing and shipping products using a high-efficiency reefer container (replacing a typical reefer container), and 2) replacing road transportation with railway transportation to reduce cold chain costs, respectively, and life cycle costing (LCC) while maintaining the desired product quality.

However, developing a high-efficiency reefer container is indispensable in circular economy-based cold chain logistics management. A series of product packing and shipping tests were conducted at a limited distance and under 12 hours on the road with the actual customer, the royal project foundation. We found that the reefer container of our partner company (Energy Prime) can maintain the freshness of the agricultural products better than a typical reefer container (TRL4). However, there are some additional adjustments required that include 1) real-time tracking and traceability, data transmission and time notification, area entering and exit, and other physical factors that may impact the life and freshness of the agricultural products, such as vibration, cold airflow, ethylene level, propylene glycol level, and global positioning system (GPS) using the Internet of Things (IoT) and 2) the decision support system (DSS) for mode setting and prediction model of environmental factors suitable for the certain products (data analytics), which will be useful in product arrangement in the container. Both systems must be demonstrated in the actual environment, which will be collaboratively managed between Royal project foundation, National Railway, northern commerce, southern commerce, and private sectors such as Royal Project Foundation, Rail Technology Research and Development Agency (Public Organization), and other stakeholders.