Sustainability Report 2020

News & Stories

Our challenge: circular economy

“Future generations will ask, what did you do?”

Alisa Schröer (Greiner Packaging) Project Manager Circular Economy

Establishing a functioning circular economy will be the great challenge of the years ahead. In a circular system, materials and products are reused, repaired, reprocessed and recycled for as long as possible. This extends the lifetime of products and reduces waste to a minimum. In a circular economy model, resources are not repeatedly extracted from the environment and are instead integrated into a cycle. This slows the overexploitation of nature and available resources and protects our environment. Our plastic packaging is a key focus here, alongside our foam product portfolio. All too frequently, these two product groups are still incinerated or even, in some cases, sent to landfill. This is precisely what would be avoided in a circular system, where the materials are kept in circulation.

Our goal

We want to be a fully circular business by 2030.

Our targets

100%

Our plastic packaging should be 100% reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025.

More secondary than primary

Increase the share of recycled secondary materials.

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Not to send any more waste to landfill, by 2025 in Europe and by 2030 globally.

Our performance

34%

More than a third of our plastic packaging can be recycled.

6.6%

Recycled secondary materials that we used in 2020 accounted for 6.6 percent.

2,212t

2,212 tonnes of our total waste (hazardous and non-hazardous waste) were sent to landfill in 2020.

Circular economy
The circular economy is a model for production and consumption where existing materials and products are shared, reused, repaired, reprocessed and recycled for as long as possible. This prolongs the life cycle of products.
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