BRAPS Forum of EPAL and the Chinese association CFLP on 23.09.2025

EPAL and the China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing (CFLP) jointly organised the BRAPS Forum 2025 in Ingolstadt on 23 September 2025. EPAL and the CFLP Pallet Professional Committee have been working together on the Belt and Road Action of Pallet Sharing (BRAPS) project for several years and have been organising the BRAPS Forum, an annual conference for the pallet and logistics industry, since 2022. The BRAPS Forum 2025 once again focused on the topics of sustainability and digitalization of pallet logistics.

More than 200 representatives of the pallet industry from Europe and Asia took part in the BRAPS Forum 2025 in Ingolstadt and online. A 30-member strong delegation from the CFLP association was also present, as were EPAL Board members Jarek Maciążek, Pascal Holliger and Tatyana Sargsyan, as well as EPAL's Honorary President, Robert Holliger, who chairs the BRAPS project, together with CFLP's Chief Economist, Cui Zhongfu.

The BRAPS Forum was moderated by An Xiaowei, who has been working as EPAL's representative in China and Asia since 2007 and is in charge of cooperation with the CFLP association in China.

 

An Xiaowei, EPAL representative in China and Asia:

„The cooperation between EPAL and the CFLP association has made an important contribution to EPAL's growth in China in recent years. With the increasing use of EPAL pallets in national and international supply chains, there is an opportunity for Chinese and Asian companies to reduce logistics costs.“

 

The presentations in the BRAPS forum covered many current topics in pallet logistics. Bernd Dörre, CEO of EPAL, reported on the effects of the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) and the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) on international supply chains and he presented the EPAL PPWR Declaration of Conformity for EPAL Euro pallets. Special punchline: shortly after the lecture, the EU Commission announced the further postponement of the start of the application of the EUDR by one year.

In other presentations, Klaus Dörr (PAKi Logistics GmbH) and Markus Kreutmayr (Euroblock Verpackungs GmbH) presented their companies' contribution to pallet exchange in the EPAL pallet pool. Michael Brandt, Head of EPAL Innovation Lab, reported on new development results in the AI-supported detection, counting and quality sorting of EPAL pallets.

 

Jarek Maciążek, President of EPAL:

„The growing number of participants in the annual BRAPS Forum shows the increasing importance of pallet logistics for the flow of goods and supply chains between Asia and Europe. The PPWR has promoted awareness among Asian industry of the importance of using reusable pallets such as EPAL pallets. With the chemical industry's switch to EPAL CP pallets, interest in exchangeable EPAL pallets will continue to grow in Asia in the coming years.“

 

Chen Gang, Chairman of Shanghai Tri-wall Daiichi Logistics Ltd., presented solutions for packaging design in automotive logistics and Arai Takefumi, CEO of Japan Pallet Rental Corporation, reported on the pooling of pallets in Japan. Eom Jae Kyun, Director of the Korean Pallet Container Association, presented the current status of the development and deployment of intelligent load carriers, and Sun Xijun, Secretary General of the CFLP Pallet Committee, reported on the current situation of the pallet industry in China.

 

Tatyana Sargsyan, Vice-president of EPAL:

„The ongoing cooperation in the BRAPS project and the interesting contributions of the representatives of Asian companies and associations are very important for the development of EPAL in China and Asia. Knowledge of current and future developments in pallet logistics in China and Asia allows EPAL to make the right decisions today and thus further increase the production and repair volume in China and Asia.“

 

The next BRAPS Forum will take place in China in 2026. The location and date will be announced later this year and the EPAL and CFLP teams have already started preparations.

 

Robert Holliger, Honorary President of EPAL and EPAL Chairman of the BRAPS project:

„We look forward to continuing and expanding our long-standing cooperation with our partner association CFLP in the future. Immediately after this year's BRAPS Forum, we discussed the topics for the coming year. We then want to address even more users of pallets from all areas of industry and trade and inform them about the advantages of EPAL pallets and open pallet exchange.“