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4FOLD Reduction of the International Transport of Empty Containers by Folding

Objective

Due to the global imbalance of import/export ca. €25 billion a year is spent on repositioning empty containers and unnecessary emissions of CO2, NOx and PM are generated. The technical solution proposed by HCI is the 4FOLD foldable container. This concept is IP protected by HCI by 8 patents. This proposal fits within the topic Small business innovation research for Transport-IT-1-2015 of the work programme Smart Green & Integrated Transport.
4 folded 4FOLD containers stacked have the same dimensions as 1 container, enabling the reduction of transport movements up to 75%. An increase of the shipping lines’ profit margin of 600% is possible, corresponding to savings up to 25% on the operational costs and 27% on the total CO2 emissions of container transport at sea.
A reduction of 25% on operational costs can be achieved, giving an huge economic boost to the EU logistics sector and the total EU economy. The 4FOLD strengthens the EU transport sector by making container transport more time and cost efficient, creating new jobs and tackling the mentioned environmental and mobility defies.
The 4FOLD prototype is at TRL7 and will be demonstrated in an operational environment in 5 international trial projects. The overall goal of the Phase2 project is to catalyse the market uptake of the 4FOLD container. A large scale demonstration is necessary to convince the conservative logistics sector of the added value and usability of the 4FOLD and opens the market for this innovation. For Phase2 HCI has involved key players to execute the demonstration project and develop the market implementation: market leaders in container manufacturing and global transport companies. HCI is frontrunner in the development of foldable containers and aims to expand its market leadership to the sales of 500,000 4FOLDs annually by 2030. This represents >27% of the complete newly built 40ft containers in 2013. The long term ambition of HCI is complete replacement of the conventional 40ft container.

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

SME-2 - SME instrument phase 2

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) H2020-SMEInst-2014-2015

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Coordinator

HOLLAND CONTAINER INNOVATIONS NEDERLAND B.V.
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 2 466 636,00
Address
ROTTERDAMSEWEG 183 C
2629 HD Delft
Netherlands

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SME

The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.

Yes
Activity type
Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments)
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 3 523 766,25
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