Further savings of more than 2,000 tonnes of CO2 per year certified Gerhardshofen, 01st August 2022 – WEILBURGER Graphics GmbH, an internationally active manufacturer of varnishes, inks and adhesives for the graphics industry based in Gerhardshofen, Germany, has for some years now been increasingly relying on the use of reconditioned drums and containers for the transport of its products in order to further reduce climate-damaging CO2 emissions. The company uses packaging solutions from Bayern-Fass Rekonditionierungs GmbH. In 2021, the company was able to reduce the CO2 emissions resulting from its operational business by 2,199,958 kg using reconditioned packaging from the supplier Bayern-Fass alone, according to the study "Life Cycle Assessment of Newly Manufactured and Reconditioned Industrial Packaging" conducted in 2015 by Ernst & Young on behalf of the Reusable Industrial Packaging Association, USA.
Industrial Intermediate Bulk Containers (IBC - 1,000 kg) and barrels (150 kg) with a high proportion of Post-Consumer Recycled materials (PCR), i.e. recycled plastics, are used here. Both the IBCs and the barrels have a multi-layer wall structure. The inner walls are always made of virgin plastics to prevent migration to the contents. The outer walls are then made of PCR. In this way, the use of PCR plastics can be increased to at least 30% per package without any risk of contamination for the company's varnishes, inks and adhesives. This is especially important because a large part of the company's extensive product portfolio is also used in the food industry and is thus subject to the strictest legal requirements.
Arno Dürr, Sales Manager of WEILBURGER Graphics GmbH on the subject: "Today we are absolutely thrilled about the quantities of CO2 we can save in our operative business over the course of the year by using our reconditioned packaging and are now fully behind this concept. We are now looking to expand the proportion of PCR-based containers and drums to 100%."
However, this enthusiasm was not noticeable from the beginning, admits Arno Dürr: "Admittedly, there were not only positive opinions about the use of these PCR packagings in our team at first. The reason for this is easily explained: due to the high proportion of recycled plastics, these reconditioned containers can often be distinguished from standard containers with the naked eye. This is particularly noticeable in the case of our IBC containers, as their colour differs from the usual pure white containers and they appear somewhat greener, yellower or brownish in direct comparison. Our fear when we introduced this PCR packaging was that our customers would conclude that the unusual appearance of our containers meant that the quality of our products was poor. Yellowing is a horror scenario, especially for products in the graphic arts industry, and clearly a reason for buyers to complain. At the beginning, nobody could imagine that this yellowish appearance came from the outer blister of the containers and not from the contents."
"In fact, shortly after delivery, we received complaints from customers where the containers did not pass the quality control at the incoming goods department, just as we had feared. This unfamiliar appearance was too new and unfamiliar for our customers." Bastian Pinsenschaum, Head of Technical Service and Product Management at WEILBURGER Graphics GmbH, adds with a twinkle in his eye and continues: "As expected, we first had to do a lot of educational work when introducing the new PCR packaging materials and convince our customers that we are using these new containers for environmental reasons and not because we had run out of pure white containers or because we actually had a quality problem."
Arno Dürr concludes: "Today, about three years after the delivery of our first PCR packaging, this is of course no longer an issue. Thanks to our extensive educational work, customers have become accustomed to the fact that our new containers look a little greener or more yellowish, but that they are also the better choice in their eyes compared to the pure white containers made of virgin plastics that we used exclusively in the past. At the latest after seeing our CO2 reduction statistics, all our customers are then absolutely thrilled and welcome the fact that they can ultimately incorporate this data into their own operational CO2 footprint."
The company has been continuously investing in environmental protection measures for many years and has been able to drastically improve its environmental footprint as a result. Since 2020, WEILBURGER Graphics GmbH has also been offsetting its remaining CO2 emissions resulting from its operating business as a Climate Partner (www.ClimatePartner.com/14543-2007-1001) and has since been considered a climate-neutral company. Indirect emissions occurring outside the company, such as from the production of raw materials and precursors, external logistics, and the use and disposal of products or other processes, are not subject to climate neutrality.
Further information: www.weilburger.com, www.bayern-fass.de
Head of Technical Service
Phone: +49 9163 9992-240
E-Mail: b.pinsenschaum@weilburger-graphics.de
WEILBURGER Graphics GmbH
Am Rosenbühl 5
91466 Gerhardshofen
Germany
Sales Manager
Phone: +49 9163 9992-200
E-Mail: a.duerr@weilburger-graphics.de
WEILBURGER Graphics GmbH
Am Rosenbühl 5
91466 Gerhardshofen
Germany
