Need for action on the EU packaging regulation?
SÜDPACK sees a need for action with the draft of the EU packaging regulation. Therefore, on June 19, Josef Rief, member of the Bundestag for the Biberach constituency, personally found out more about this topic at SÜDPACK in Ochsenhausen. SÜDPACK used the meeting as an opportunity to provide information about the competencies in the field of resource management and to give an insight into the value-added processes and technologies at SÜDPACK. In addition, the focus was also on the current situation of energy supply in Germany as an industrial location.
SÜDPACK is a leading manufacturer of high-performance films that are used as flexible and contact-sensitive packaging for food, medical goods and pharmaceuticals. In recent years, the company has invested significantly in the recyclability of its products and in a wide variety of recycling technologies, including chemical recycling. The aim is to become a ZERO WASTE company and contribute to the circularity of the packaging industry.
As an export-oriented company, SÜDPACK welcomes the EU Commission's proposal for a regulation on packaging and packaging waste, which promotes the circular economy and makes it easier to act in an international environment. However, the company sees a considerable need for improvement in the mandatory quotas for the use of recyclates and therefore supports the statement of the IK association (Industrial Association for Plastic Packaging) with specific proposals for changes.
For Josef Rief, this was the impulse to exchange ideas with the entrepreneur Johannes Remmele and Valeska Haux, Vice President Strategic Marketing at SÜDPACK, about the challenges of the new regulations for manufacturers of flexible films.
SÜDPACK is particularly concerned about the required recyclate usage quota for contact-sensitive packaging. To date, there have not been sufficient quantities of recyclates available in the European internal market that are approved for contact with food or medical goods. SÜDPACK therefore advocates suspending the use of recycled material for contact-sensitive packaging until sufficient capacity has been built up. Since these recyclate quotas can only be achieved with the current state of the art through the use of chemical recycling, it is in the interest of the company to facilitate investments in chemical recycling technology and to create the appropriate framework conditions for this. A mass balance approach is also an indispensable prerequisite for the recognition of chemical recycling in order to achieve the recyclate usage quotas.
In this context, Johannes Remmele reported on SÜDPACK's investments in the field of circular economy. The aim of this commitment is the implementation of chemical recycling as a complementary technology to mechanical recycling. “With CARBOLIQ, an advanced chemical recycling process, we are able to process composite materials that have not been mechanically recyclable to date into high-quality oil, which in turn can be used to produce plastic granules. Here we work together with well-known companies – including petrochemicals – along the entire value chain,” explained Johannes Remmele.
Another item on the agenda was the dramatic rise in energy costs. Therefore, as an energy-intensive company, SÜDPACK continues to invest in building up its own supply. Johannes Remmele appealed to Josef Rief to continue to guarantee the supply of energy from renewable sources and also the independence and competitiveness of the industrial location in Ochsenhausen and in Germany.
During a joint tour of the production facility, Josef Rief gained an exciting insight into the value-added processes at SÜDPACK - from the co-extrusion technology to printing and laminating to the cutting and packaging of the high-performance films.
