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Sustainability and Carbon Reduction — Storing More Without Building More

The greenest square foot of warehouse is the one you do not lease. Independent research measured around 40% carbon reduction from converting existing rack into high-density pocket storage — here is why the mechanism is real.

High-density Storeganizer pick faces filling a run of pallet rack bays

~40%

carbon reduction (Leuven, 2013)

0 kW

operational energy

>90%

manufacturer-reported recyclable materials

Relocatable

reused, not scrapped

Where the carbon actually sitsAvoided spaceAvoided steelNo energy in useMaterials and end of lifeWhat we will not claimFAQs

Where the carbon in a storage decision actually sits

When a warehouse runs out of room, the sustainability consequence is rarely in the storage product. It is in the decision the shortage forces: lease more building, erect more steel, or spread the operation out and walk further. Each of those carries more embodied and operational carbon than the shelving argument being had at the time.

Three avoided things, in order of size

  • Avoided floor area. Building, heating, lighting and occupying additional square footage is normally the largest single line.
  • Avoided steel. Racking and shelving are steel-intensive; manufacturing less of it is an embodied-carbon saving.
  • Avoided travel. Shorter picking routes mean less equipment movement and, in larger operations, fewer powered units running.
Before and after comparison showing stock held in the same footprint rising from 10 to 25 percent of total stock
The same footprint before and after conversion: the stock did not shrink, the building did not grow.

Independent research at the University of Leuven (2013) measured approximately 40% carbon reduction along with around 40% more usable storage, about 42% less travel time and roughly 26% better picking efficiency. Those four figures are related: the carbon number is largely a consequence of the space and travel numbers, which is why it is credible rather than decorative.

Avoided space is the biggest lever

The clearest illustration we have is commercial rather than environmental, and it is more useful for it. Everten Supplies was actively exploring a move out of its 1,056 m² warehouse. Instead it converted about 50 m² into 2,759 pick locations across 18 bays, and postponed the relocation. No new building was fitted out, heated or lit — which is a carbon cost avoided rather than a saving claimed.

Response to running out of room Carbon consequence
Convert existing bays to pocket storage Product materials only. No new envelope, no new heating or lighting load, no new steel structure.
Lease and fit out additional space Fit-out, new racking, and years of heating, cooling and lighting the additional envelope.
Add more shelving across more floor New steel manufactured, and a longer picking route walked every day thereafter.
Spread the operation across two sites Inter-site transport added permanently — usually the worst outcome on both carbon and cost.

Read the full write-up: Everten — e-commerce growth without relocating. The commercial version of the same argument is on cost and ROI.

Avoided steel, and the rack you already own

Storeganizer columns installed in existing pallet rack in an operating warehouse
Columns hang from a rail fitted to existing beams — no drilling, anchoring, foundations or new structure.

Reuse before purchase

The system’s central premise is that the structure is already there. Pocket columns hang from a suspension rail fitted to the beams of pallet rack you have owned for years, in the vertical space between beam levels that has never held anything.

That is an embodied-carbon argument as much as a cost one. No new uprights are rolled, no new beams are manufactured, no concrete is drilled and no anchors are set. The heaviest carbon component of a conventional storage expansion — the steel — is simply not bought.

See pallet rack space optimization for how much of a typical bay is unused today, and how Storeganizer works for the suspension detail.

Nothing to power, nothing to service

This is where pocket storage separates cleanly from automated small-parts systems on lifetime footprint. A carousel or vertical lift module will out-pick pocket columns in the right application and deserves serious consideration — our alternatives comparison sets out where. But it draws power every year it operates, and pocket columns draw none.

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No electrical load

No motors, drives or controls. A converted bay adds nothing to the building’s connected load and needs no electrical work.

🔧

Maintenance free

Nothing to service, no annual contract, no spare-parts inventory to hold and eventually scrap.

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No software lifecycle

Nothing to license, integrate, upgrade or replace when a platform reaches end of support.

Diagram comparing a long picking route across eight shelving bays with a short route across two Storeganizer bays
Higher pick density per linear foot of aisle: fewer steps and less equipment movement for the same order lines.

Materials, durability and end of life

What the manufacturer publishes

  • More than 90% of product materials are recyclable, as reported by the manufacturer, conTeyor.
  • A warranty of up to 10 years against rips and cracks in the textile — durability is itself a sustainability property.
  • Steel suspension hardware recycles through ordinary channels at end of life.
  • The system relocates. A move does not scrap it, so the replacement is never manufactured.
  • Reconfigurable in place. Pocket sizes and column layouts change as the range changes, instead of being replaced.
Product view of a Storeganizer bay fully populated with textile pocket columns
A fully populated bay: textile pockets, steel suspension, no powered components.

conTeyor’s wider business is reusable packaging, which is the same principle applied to transport rather than storage — background on the manufacturer.

What we will not claim

Sustainability marketing is where storage suppliers overreach, so here is the boundary. We do not have a published third-party life-cycle assessment or an environmental product declaration to hand you, and we are not going to imply that the Leuven percentages are a certified per-project result. They came from one independent study of the system, and your outcome depends on what your conversion actually avoids.

What is verifiable, and what we are happy to put in writing for a submission: the system uses no operational energy, requires no servicing, adds no structure, is manufacturer-reported as more than 90% recyclable, and is relocatable rather than disposable. If your reporting framework or an assessor needs something specific from the manufacturer, ask and we will request it rather than fill the gap ourselves.

Quantify your own avoided footprint

Configure a representative bay in the Storeganizer Designer, compare the location count with what the bay holds today, and multiply by the bays available. The square footage that difference lets you avoid leasing is the number worth putting in a sustainability case.

Sustainability and carbon reduction — FAQs

Where does the 40% carbon reduction figure come from?
It comes from independent research carried out at the University of Leuven in Belgium (2013), which studied the system and reported approximately 40% carbon reduction alongside about 40% more usable storage, roughly 42% less travel time and around 26% better picking efficiency. We attribute it rather than presenting it as a guaranteed outcome for your building.
Why would a storage system reduce carbon at all?
Because the largest emissions in a storage decision are usually not in the product. They are in the building you would otherwise heat, light and occupy, and in the steel you would otherwise manufacture. Storing more in space you already have avoids both.
Is the system recyclable?
conTeyor, the manufacturer, reports that more than 90% of its product materials are recyclable. The suspension hardware is steel and recyclable through normal channels.
Does it use any energy in operation?
No. There are no motors, drives, controls or software — picking is manual. Unlike carousels and vertical lift modules, a converted bay adds no electrical load and needs no controls upgrade.
What happens if we move buildings?
The columns unhook and rehang in the new building’s rack. That is a material sustainability point as well as a commercial one: a relocated system is not scrapped steel, and the replacement is not manufactured.
Can this support our reporting or LEED work?
It can contribute evidence, but we will not overclaim. What we can supply is what is verifiable: no operational energy use, manufacturer recyclability data, avoided floor area and avoided steel. How that maps to a specific credit or reporting framework is a question for your assessor.

Put a number on the space you would avoid leasing

Send bay dimensions and your current location count. You will get a configured comparison, and the avoided square footage that goes with it.

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