Automated challenge

It is technically possible to stack empties 11-high, and nine-high stacks are quite common, says Royal Haskoning’s Jan van Beemen: “However, such a high stack has its own problems, as the empties may blow off in high winds.”

He says export/import imbalances have once again turned people’s minds to the possibility of foldable containers – an idea that has been around for some time.

“As the empty problem increases, so does the interest and creativity in the area of foldable containers. But whether it will come to a practical and economically viable foldable container, I doubt. It is a real engineering challenge to design a foldable container of sufficient strength and robustness, able to withstand stacking and the enormous pressures of being at sea.”