Case study · Logistics · Argentina

Yusen Logistics: sustainable corporate gifts, chosen material by material.

Yusen Logistics had no waste of its own to transform. It had a clear idea: original, one-of-a-kind merchandise made from recovered materials, with real social impact. From the materials REZET keeps in stock, recovered from other companies, it picked the ones it liked best, down to the colours, and built its ideal catalogue of corporate gifts.

210 kgRecovered material used

126 m²Banners and mesh banners

73 m²Upholstery

4Product types

01 · Challenge

Branded merch that does not look like everyone else’s.

Most corporate merchandise comes from the same catalogues: printed with a logo, handed out, forgotten in a drawer. Yusen Logistics wanted the opposite: original gifts, useful on the road and at the desk, with a story worth telling.

It did not have a waste stream to start from, and it did not need one. The starting point was a brief: sustainable corporate gifts, made from recovered materials, with a social impact that could be shown.

Yusen Logistics is a tier-one global supply chain provider and a subsidiary of NYK Line, operating in Argentina as a master freight forwarder.

02 · Strategy

Choose from what has already been recovered.

REZET always keeps a stock of materials recovered from other companies: banners, mesh, upholstery and offcuts, in many colours and textures. Yusen Logistics chose the materials and colours that suited its brand, and put its gift budget into craftsmanship, durability and genuine material value.

01 · CHOOSE

Pick the material, and the colour

From the banners, mesh banners and automotive upholstery in stock, Yusen selected the ones it liked best, colours included: 210 kg of material, with 126 m² and 73 m² also recorded.

02 · REDESIGN

A catalogue made for the road and the desk

Travel mate carriers, car rubbish bags, mate tote bags and pouches: four products designed around what each recovered material does best.

03 · REPORT

It is not just about metrics

It is about changing the story of the material and the people behind it: materials other companies had discarded, chosen by Yusen and turned into gifts made in social impact workshops.

03 · Process

Three streams, two workshops, four products.

It is not about hiding the material or recycling it until it becomes unrecognisable. The material is the value. With creativity, innovation and a trained eye, what others see as waste can be recognised for what it still has to offer, then redesigned around a new purpose without losing the story of where it came from.

Sewing the recovered upholstery at the social workshop

Material and production for Yusen Logistics

Recovered banner material — Yusen Logistics

Car seats before the upholstery is recovered

04 · Evidence

Making Impact Traceable, Transparent & Verifiable.

210 kg of recovered material, with 126 m² of banners and mesh and 73 m² of upholstery also recorded, transformed into mate sets, tote bags, travel bags and pouches.

The figures in this case are checked and the record is managed by REZET Hub.

Chosen from stock

The materials came from REZET’s stock, recovered from other companies, including upholstery offcuts from the automotive industry. Yusen chose them by type and by colour.

Recorded by weight, and by area

210 kg of offcuts by weight, with 126 m² of banners and mesh and 73 m² of upholstery recorded by surface.

Designed around the material

Four products designed around what each recovered material does best: the resistance of the upholstery, the strength of the banner and the lightness of the mesh.

A purchase with a record

Output reconciled against the recorded intake, so every gift can be traced back to the material it came from.

Behind each of these figures there are families. The people who cut and sew in these workshops are not a line in our metrics: they are heads of family who have come through hard circumstances, and paid, skilled work is what lets them be the ones who provide.

05 · Outcome

You don’t need waste to create impact.

Yusen Logistics chose 210 kg of recovered material from REZET’s stock and turned it into its own catalogue of sustainable corporate gifts: mate carriers designed for life on the road, car rubbish bags and mate tote bags made from banners. Made by 12 people in social impact workshops. Any company without a waste stream of its own can do the same: choose the materials, choose the colours, and give gifts with a story.

Why repurpose

If you are going to spend money, spend it well.

Be smart about where you put your budget. Instead of buying the same merch everyone replicates, invest in merch with a true impact story.
And instead of taking the easy, often costly route of recycling by destroying the material, repurpose it. Preserve its value. Give it a second chance.