Sustainability and Environmental Protection

As a conscientious manufacturer of sustainable packaging, we know we have a responsibility towards the environment. We rely on renewable energies in order to act in a sustainable way and protect our planet. Dürrbeck purchases electricity from TEAG Thüringer Energie AG, which gets its supply from existing hydropower plants in Scandinavia.

See our certificate of proof of origin from the power plants in Scandinavia by clicking the link below.

We continuously work to make our company as environmentally friendly as possible. That is why we strive to be as economical as possible when it comes to energy consumption, and to procure it only from sustainable resources. To do this, we frequently analyse our energy policy and adapt it to meet current framework conditions. This continuous improvement process is monitored once a year by an external audit pursuant to ISO 14001 and ISO 50001.

You can view and download our certificates here.

Our solutions:

• Reduced film thickness
• Use of reclaimed plastic
• Use of bioplastics
• Climate neutral packaging
• Additives that improve our carbon footprint
• Comparison of paper to polyethylene
• And more

DKFol® - Eco / Eco-Coex

Our innovative DKFol® -Eco and DKFol® - Eco-Coex formulas allow us to reduce:

• your film consumption
• raw materials used
• CO2 emissions
• your set-up costs
• warehousing costs
• transport costs
• your packaging and waste disposal expenses

Plus, it is a great way for you significantly conserve resources! 

DKFol® - Eco

• Very strong
• Low volume weight
• Good welding and shrinkage properties
• Very well suited for machines
• Food-safe
• Fully recyclable
• Reduces plastic film thickness by 25-50% with no reduction in quality

DKFol® - Eco-Coex

• This plastic film formula is a further development of DKFol® - Eco that allows a further 20-30% reduction in thickness.
• The special benefit of this plastic film is its three layers that emphasize the unique properties of the individual materials.
• This allows us to tweak the film to suit your requirements even better. For example, it can be delivered matte on one side and shiny on the other, or black inside and white outside.
• We can manufacture the film very soft and stretchable, or stiff and tear-resistant – whatever best suits your needs.

The use of reclaimed materials conserves resources and ideally creates a closed raw material cycle.

Here it is important to distinguish between industrial recycling and post-consumer materials.

PCR materials have a strong odour and yellow tint. These materials are well-suited for mailers and envelopes.
Recyclate from our own plastic film waste is regenerated in our in-house recycling process. Our manufacturing waste is sorted and the material that shows no signs of contamination can be processed thinly and is hardly distinguishable from virgin plastic, both visually and mechanically.

However, regenerates cannot be used for food packaging. We use these products only where possible hazardous residues (residues from adhesive tape, glue, dust, etc.) will not pose a threat (e.g. in the construction industry).

We commissioned ClimatePartner with comparing the CO2 emissions of new granulate/PCR granulate/internal recycling.

Results of the comparison (PDF): ClimatePartner Vergleich der CO₂-Emissionen verschiedener Kunststoffe auf Basis des „Greenhouse Gas Protocol Product Life Cycle Accounting and Reporting Standard“ (GHG Protocol).

Here we talk about three different biopolymer groups:

• Degradable polymers made from petrol-based raw materials (crude oil, natural gas).
• Degradable polymers made from predominately bio-based materials (e.g. corn, sugar cane, food waste).
• Non-degradable polymers made from bio-based materials (e.g. bioethanol) – this also allows for transparent plastic!

The main advantage of bio-based materials is the reduction in CO2. During the degradation process, microorganisms present in the environment convert the product into natural substances such as carbon dioxide, water and compost. This process is heavily dependent on environmental conditions (location, temperature) and can usually only be carried out at composting facilities.

However, it must be noted that bioplastics bring not only advantages but disadvantages as well. These can include: 

• very high costs
• large minimum order qualities
• degradable materials are unable to produce transparent plastic film  (resulting in cloudy or milky film)
• special disposal required
• long transport routes for raw materials (e.g. from Brazil)
• agricultural areas compete with food production
• monocultures (use of fertilisers, pesticides and agricultural chemicals)

The use of degradable biopolymers made from food waste is certainly a sensible solution for sustainable packaging; however, unfortunately the availability of these raw materials is limited.

We had our product carbon footprint calculated for our production.

This determined the carbon emissions per kg of finished product.

Financial support for climate protection projects can neutralise the CO2 emissions that arise during the production of our plastic film.

This means there is no need to change the formula of your current plastic film, and its technical properties are retained.

If you are interested, we would be happy to put together a non-binding offer.

There are mineral fillers or additives that can be incorporated into plastics.

This saves raw material resources and improves our carbon footprint.

However, please note that these plastic films are not quite as transparent, but they do have a nice “natural, eco-friendly look”.

In the comparison, ClimatePartner assumed that:

• the densities of the materials are roughly the same (LDPE approx. 0.93 g/ cm³ and paper approx. 0.6-1.3 g/cm³),
• twice the paper weight compared to LDPE is required for a paper bag in order to offer the same tear resistance (this is still a conservative assumption and also has an impact on transport emissions), and
• all other product processes are similar or comparable in emissions.

Results of the comparison (PDF):  ClimatePartner Berechnung der CO₂-Emissionen des Produktes PE-Versandtasche der Gebrüder Dürrbeck Kunststoffe GmbH auf Basis des „Greenhouse Gas Protocol Product Life Cycle Accounting and Reporting Standard“ (GHG Protocol)

Protecting the environment and saving energy are not only important duties of our company, but also a requirement for personal initiative and responsibility.

For this reason, the following principles form the basis of our drive for continuous improvement:

• We comply with legal regulations and official requirements as minimum standards.
• We are committed to using natural resources sparingly and responsibly, especially when using materials and energy. Processes are analysed and improved with regard to their environmental impact.
• Improving energy performance and energy efficiency should be done step by step with the help of suitable technologies.
• For us, saving resources also means using and reprocessing recyclable production waste.
• Environmental protection and energy saving are the responsibility of all employees. Information about our company’s special measures motivate staff to take personal responsibility and to act in an environmentally conscious way at work.
• Frequent staff training is undertaken to increase their environmental awareness and motivation to contribute to environmental protection and energy saving.
• We include our suppliers and service providers in our efforts to improve environmental protection.
• Our production facilities and offices are set up and operated in such a way to avoid health hazards and keep environmental pollution to a minimum.
• Concrete environmental and energy goals serve to achieve continuous improvement of environmental protection services. These goals are currently being defined and their effective implementation is evaluated by management.
• In order to achieve the goals we set, all necessary information is provided and the human and financial resources required are secured.