Sustainable Solutions with Paper and Recyclate
Within the scope of the 13th German Sustainability Award and the German Sustainability Award Design, which was awarded for the first time, some packaging concepts also received awards. These went to Frosta, Werner & Mertz, Kneipp and Everdrop, among others.
The German Sustainability Award is the national award for top achievements in sustainability in business, municipalities and research. With eight competitions and over 1,000 applicants and around 2,000 guests at the events, the award is the largest of its kind in Europe. The award is presented by the German Sustainability Award Foundation in cooperation with the German federal government, municipal umbrella organizations, trade associations, civil society organizations and research institutes.
As part of the 13th German Sustainability Award, the food manufacturer Frosta received the special packaging prize for its frozen food packaging made of paper. In the justification, it was pointed out that, unlike other cardboard packaging, the bag does not require any plastic coatings or films in the freezer. Thus, it can be disposed of with the waste paper.
Praise for “Recyclat Initiative”
But packaging has also received awards elsewhere: at the German Sustainability Award Design, which was presented for the first time this year. One of the awards went to Frosch’s recyclable packaging. In their statement, the jurors emphasized that the “Recyclat Initiative” founded by Werner & Mertz in 2012 had impressively proven that branded packaging can be reproduced using old plastic from the yellow bag. And not only for detergents, cleaning agents and cleaning products, but also for cosmetics such as shower gels. This is made possible by the high-quality processing of recycled material. World-wide there is no comparable high-quality utilization of mixed residentially collected plastic packing.
Sleeves made of recycled cork
Kneipp’s “Samtweich” lip care stick also convinced the jury with its consistently designed packaging. The cap of the lip balm is made of the novel material Paper Blend, which Kneipp claims to be the first company worldwide to use in the packaging sector. Although Paper Blend feels like plastic and looks almost the same, it is made of bio-based, renewable raw materials, as the company emphasizes. The sleeve is made of recycled cork, which is a waste product of wine cork production.
Everdrop’s cleaning agent tabs also received an award. These, dissolved in 500 to 750 ml of water, become bottled cleaning supplies. For this purpose, Everdrop offers reusable bottles made completely of recycled plastic.
