Cocreating Sustainability
As a knowledge partner, OPACKGROUP therefore actively contributes to various boards and industry organizations, both within and beyond the packaging sector. Our slogan, ‘The sustainable innovator’, reflects how seriously we take this vision for the future. How do we put this into practice? By focusing on the six key areas of IMPACT.
Our sustainability strategy is centered around creating IMPACT: Innovation, eMployees, Partners, Ambassadorship, Climate Impact and Transparency.
- Innovation: Sustainability is the main focus of our innovation programme. We work according to the Rethink Plastics strategy, based on five key themes: Re-duce, Re-use, Re-cycle, Re-design and Re-new.
- Employees: We invest in the development of our employees through new education and training programmes as part of the OPACKGROUP Academy (OKAY).
- Partners: Strong, long-term and mutually beneficial relationships with our suppliers and customers are key to innovation and excellent customer service.
- Ambassadorship: To encourage sustainable change and continuous improvement across the packaging industry, we deliberately invest in board memberships. Our employees hold approximately 20 board positions within industry associations and other organizations, helping to promote and strengthen collaboration throughout the value chain.
- Climate Impact: We monitor and reduce our impact on the climate. Examples include climate-conscious packaging solutions, the use of renewable electricity, initiatives to reduce waste and energy consumption in our processes, and our policy that all new company cars are electric.
- Transparency: We are transparent about our performance. Our sustainability performance is externally audited and validated. We communicate openly and publish our objectives and progress.
Environment
As a manufacturer, we are aware of the environmental impact of both our production processes and our products. At the OTC, we test and analyse the environmental impact of our packaging and films. Together with our customers, we assess the environmental aspects of both paper and plastic packaging options.
OPACKGROUP also has its own in-house recycling capacity. Here, film is recycled and converted back into polyethylene granulates, which is then used to produce new film. In this way, we turn waste into raw material, reduce the environmental impact and lower production costs. In addition, all companies within OPACKGROUP use renewable electricity.
Ready to Recycle
One of the innovation directions within Rethink is Re-design. This includes improving functionality and enhancing the recyclability of plastic and paper packaging.
Across its packaging portfolio, OPACKGROUP focuses on developing packaging that is as recyclable as possible. In 2022, we opened a production facility in Giessen specifically designed for the manufacture of these sustainable packaging solutions.
This provides customers with a more innovative and sustainable alternative to conventional film grades. Examples include alternatives to laminates, barrier films containing PA, PVDC or PET, and aluminium-containing films.
With Ready to Recycle films and packaging, you can choose a material quality that is designed to be recyclable.
Transparency
We are happy to share our knowledge and progress on sustainability with you. Our Sustainability Report provides more detailed information about our approach, our external commitments – including Ecovadis Platinum, ISO 26000 – and partnerships with Future Up and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
