Source: GEODIS
GEODIS Paper-Based Thermal Cover Trials Add New Evidence to Sustainable Pharma Airfreight
What Happened
GEODIS has completed a series of international trials using recyclable paper-based thermal covers for pharmaceutical airfreight shipments.
The project was developed with a global pharmaceutical customer and evaluated two cover configurations, Solaris 5 and Solaris 10, as alternatives to conventional aluminum- and foil-based thermal covers.
Since September 2025, GEODIS has completed 86 trial shipments across India, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
The shipments encountered external temperatures ranging from approximately -15°C in South Korea to more than 40°C in India. GEODIS reported that no critical temperature excursions were recorded during the transport trials and that the protected shipments remained within the specified +2°C to +25°C operating range.
The trial is significant because it moves the discussion around sustainable thermal protection beyond laboratory material claims. The covers were tested within international pharmaceutical airfreight operations involving different climates, airports and handling conditions.
How It Works
A thermal pallet cover is a passive protective layer placed over a palletized shipment.
Unlike an active temperature-controlled container, it does not generate heating or cooling. Its role is to slow heat transfer and reduce the impact of temporary exposure to direct sunlight, cold ambient air, wind and rapidly changing temperatures.
This is particularly relevant during airfreight handling.
Pharmaceutical cargo may leave a temperature-controlled truck and wait on an airport apron before aircraft loading. At the destination, it may experience another exposed transfer before entering a cool dolly, warehouse or receiving vehicle.
Even when these exposure periods are relatively short, pallet surfaces can heat or cool quickly under extreme conditions. A thermal cover creates an additional buffer that slows the rate of temperature change and gives handlers more time to complete the transfer.
The GEODIS trial used Solaris 5 and Solaris 10 paper-based covers. The company describes them as recyclable alternatives to traditional thermal covers made with aluminum or foil-based materials.
Importantly, the successful results cannot be attributed to the covers alone.
GEODIS combined the covers with temperature-controlled vehicles, airline pharmaceutical services, cool dollies and temperature-controlled warehousing. The trial therefore evaluated the covers as one component of a managed end-to-end cold chain rather than as a standalone substitute for refrigerated transport.
This distinction is critical for pharmaceutical users.
A thermal cover may protect against short airport exposure, but it cannot compensate indefinitely for a failed refrigerated vehicle, an extended customs hold or storage in an uncontrolled warehouse.
Its performance depends on factors including pallet dimensions, payload density, starting product temperature, cover closure, exposure time, wind, solar radiation and the thermal mass of the shipment.
Why It Matters
Sustainability efforts in pharmaceutical logistics frequently face a conflict between environmental objectives and product-protection requirements.
Conventional thermal covers can contain mixed materials, metallic films, plastic layers, adhesives or insulating components that are difficult to separate and recycle. After a single international shipment, these materials may enter a waste stream at the destination.
A paper-based design could make disposal and recycling simpler where suitable collection infrastructure exists.
However, recyclability alone does not prove that a product has a lower full-life-cycle environmental impact.
A complete assessment should examine raw materials, manufacturing energy, cover weight, freight volume, reuse potential, recycling availability and end-of-life processing. GEODIS has reported operational and thermal results, but the announcement does not provide a comparative life-cycle assessment or quantified carbon reduction.
The most valuable result of the trial is therefore the operational evidence.
Eighty-six shipments across five countries represent a more meaningful test than a limited laboratory demonstration. The wide range of reported ambient conditions also provides useful information for lanes where cargo may encounter both severe cold and extreme heat.
At the same time, the reported +2°C to +25°C range is broad. Pharmaceutical quality teams should not assume that the same cover configuration is automatically suitable for every refrigerated or controlled-room-temperature product.
A product approved for 2–8°C handling has different excursion limits from one approved for 15–25°C distribution. Qualification data must therefore be reviewed against the actual product specification and shipment lane.
B2B Impact
For pharmaceutical manufacturers, the case provides a model for testing lower-waste thermal protection without weakening packaging validation.
A transition from foil-based to paper-based covers should be managed through formal change control. The process should define equivalent performance criteria, trial routes, monitoring locations, acceptance limits and investigation procedures.
Trial pallets should represent realistic payloads rather than idealized test configurations. Differences in pallet height, carton arrangement, stretch wrapping and empty space can materially affect thermal behavior.
For freight forwarders, the GEODIS project demonstrates that sustainable packaging changes require coordination across the entire lane.
The cover’s performance depends on whether the origin vehicle arrives at the correct temperature, whether the airline provides pharma-qualified handling, whether cool dollies are available and how quickly the shipment enters controlled storage at destination.
Forwarders should therefore record each exposed handoff and compare actual dwell times with the assumptions used during qualification.
For airlines and ground handlers, paper-based covers may require updated handling instructions.
Personnel need to understand whether the material is moisture-resistant, how it should be secured in high winds, whether damaged covers can be repaired and whether the cover can remain on the pallet during security screening or aircraft loading.
Operational procedures should also prevent workers from cutting or opening the cover in a way that exposes the cargo unnecessarily.
For packaging suppliers, the trial creates an opportunity to develop performance tiers for different routes and exposure conditions.
A lightweight cover may be suitable for short transfers in moderate climates, while another design may be needed for high-solar-load airports or winter operations. Suppliers should provide thermal test data, installation instructions, closure requirements and disposal guidance.
For cold-chain monitoring companies, these trials show the importance of sensor placement.
A single data logger in the center of a pallet may confirm product-core stability but fail to capture short surface-temperature changes. Qualification studies may need multiple sensors placed near pallet edges, corners, top layers and representative product locations.
For sustainability teams, the case reinforces the need to connect environmental metrics with quality outcomes.
Reducing packaging material is valuable only when the revised system maintains product integrity. A product loss or rejected pharmaceutical shipment can create a much larger environmental and financial burden than the packaging saved.
The wider industry lesson is that sustainable cold-chain packaging should be treated as an engineering and validation project, not simply a materials substitution exercise.
GEODIS’s trial provides credible operational evidence that recyclable paper-based thermal covers can function within an integrated pharmaceutical airfreight system. The next step for shippers is to translate that evidence into product-specific, lane-specific and independently documented qualification programs.