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DAGAB is the logistics company of food giant Axfood. It is the central warehouse and delivers goods to the Hemköp, Willys and Tempo retail chains in Sweden. In other words, DAGAB handles large quantities of food every day, which also generates large quantities of waste. Joakim Berggren is the manager of the DAGAB site in Jordbro. When he realised how many working hours were spent on waste management, he decided to introduce more efficient waste management.


DAGAB has two large complete warehouses, one in Göteborg and the other in Jordbro, not far from Stockholm. As a national warehouse, a huge amount of food is handled on a daily basis. Groceries are delivered, packed and dispatched to over 7,000 shops and customers across Sweden. On average, the entire warehouse stock is changed every 11 days, and when goods arrive, are repacked and transported, a large volume of waste is generated in the form of packaging. ‘As all the pallets containing food products have to be covered in plastic, there is a huge amount of waste to process,’ explains Joakim Berggren.
DAGAB first equipped itself with a baler for plastic film at Jordbro, but the warehouse staff were spending too much of their time - the equivalent of one or two full-time jobs - going back and forth to the baler to dispose of the plastic, which was compacted into bales. It was this waste of time due to the size of the site that prompted the idea of a new waste management solution.
Having several compactors reduced transportation distance within the warehouse.
After assessing the situation, listening to the colleagues who worked in the warehouse and taking into account their preferences and ideas, DAGAB began to contact various suppliers. DAGAB's main requirement was that the solution should reduce the time spent on waste management. Solutions from several different suppliers were considered, but one stood out. Berggren comments:
‘It was mainly the functionality and quality of ATS-Orwak's machines that impressed us. Their service was also invaluable. I'd say it was around 50/50 on the advice and products that determined our choice.’
DAGAB was helped to develop a solution tailored to the operation of Jordbro's warehouse. 5 balers manufactured by SACRIA SAS, a briquetting press manufactured by ORWAK and several compactors were strategically installed in the warehouse.
Trouble-free installation
Berggren is delighted with the whole process, from ordering to installation, and DAGAB has received good advice and service.
‘We haven't had any problems, apart from the daily grumbling that always accompanies change. I wouldn't do anything differently if I had the chance, because everything has gone so well. I know that help is just an e-mail away if we need anything. The staff are always good about getting back to us, and I like the fact that they never see problems, just opportunities.’

Are there any stages in waste management where you can save time?
For a new waste management solution to succeed, Berggren says it's important to start by looking at where time can be saved.
‘It's important to identify the hours that could be saved. Is too much extra time spent on something that someone could do instead? If you identify these steps, you could make major improvements and streamline the operation.’
‘We have now maximised the performance of the waste compactors, allowing us to reduce the number of collections. This saves us time and money.’
Opportunities to further rationalise waste management

With the only existing solution, DAGAB has calculated that it is possible to eliminate the equivalent of one or two jobs, time that can be used more productively. Today, employees no longer spend extra time handling and transporting waste around the warehouse. Instead, waste is now handled in passing, as part of other work tasks. Although DAGAB has already achieved measurable improvements, it will continue to expand its range of compactors and balers to further streamline operations and save even more time.
Published by Lorine Ghigonetto
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