Südpack sustainability report reveals energy cuts and improved circularity in “reduce, recycle, replace” pursuit

22 Dec 2020 --- Südpack has released its annual sustainability report, highlighting progress in environmental, economic and social responsibility.

The multinational high tech film and packaging producer is touting its achievements as a significant step on the road to meeting European and German 2025 sustainability goals.

The report, which covers 2018 to 2019, boasts a number of accomplishments that fit within its “reduce, recycle, replace” model of sustainability, which the company laid out to PackagingInsights in 2019. 

This includes: Over 25 percent increase in reuse of inline scrap, a reduced external energy supply of 35 percent (at its Ochsenhausen site) and an increase in energy efficiency of 6.5 percent. 

Südpack managed to increase output by 26 percent while increasing material usage by only 9.1 percent. 

The company also increased the quantity of reprocessed and reused industrial waste in 2019 by 37.3 percent compared to the previous year. 

Moreover, the supplier sold more than 1,000 metric tons of processed materials to third parties in 2019.

This year, Südpack won a sustainability award for its Multi SV skin pack for meats. EU and German circularity goals 
Südpack’s roadmap to improved environmental sustainability is geared toward meeting upcoming EU and German goals and policies. These include a volume of 10 million tons of recycled plastic in packaging by 2025 within the EU. 

By 2030, all plastic packaging on the European market should also be reusable or recyclable at low cost. For composite packaging, German packaging law requires a total recycling quota of 70 percent by mass as of 2022.

Thinner films
Several key aspects of Südpack’s “reduce, recycle, replace” model is being played out in its packaging design and production principles.

Downgauging of its packaging by creating thinner films has reduced plastic and other material usage significantly, the company says. 

Südpack’s Veraplex film, for example, is 50 percent thinner than conventional structures. Its Multipeel product group also reduced material usage by 30 percent. 

Chemical recycling
Maintaining a circular economy, another core principle of its approach, is being propelled by the company’s emphasis and investments in chemical recycling. Südpack implemented the ChemCycling project in collaboration with BASF, allowing for recycling of plastic materials unsuitable for mechanical recycling processes. 

In line with this, the company is increasingly looking to make its products more easily recyclable by any means. Its MultiPeel PurePP was awarded a “Pack of the Future” in a “Save the Food” category earlier this year. 

By 2025, Südpack aims to generate at least 50 percent of its revenue from products that fit these roadmap criteria, and in 2019 it reports to have reached 24 percent. Südpack is almost halfway to achieving 50% of its revenue from its sustainable product portfolio.

Plastics plus points 
At the base of Südpack’s success is its product portfolio. The company highlights the importance of plastic usage for its energy-saving properties and emphasizes the importance of decreasing resource consumption and improving recyclability. 

The report notes that plastic uses 3.6 times less mass per functional unit in comparison to other packaging materials. The material also requires less than half the same energy consumption over the whole lifespan of packaging items and less than half of total carbon emissions, indicates Südpack. 

Südpack’s expertise in high-performance films is central to these findings. 

For example, a glass soup jar typically weighs 208 g compared to the company’s 7 g film soup bags. 

For meat products, film packaging also extends shelf life considerably, thus producing less waste and associated resources resulting from waste management. Typically, vacuum-packed meat lasts 30 days instead of four when unpacked. 

This year, Südpack’s Multi SV Skin pack for meats was granted a recyclability certificate from the Institute cyclos-HTP. 

Edited

By Louis Gore-Langton