Recycled packaging foils with the „Blue Angel“ label
profine makes supply chains more environmentally friendly
When the trucks deliver new products from profine, an “angel” always travels with the cargo. The reason: profine GmbH is the first profile system provider to use polyethylene (PE) packaging foils that consist of 80 percent PCR standard (post-consumer recyclate) and have been awarded the “Blauer Engel” (blue angel) - the German federal government's environmental label. These recycled, environmentally friendly packaging foils were developed together with the manufacturer INFOLIO GmbH.
In addition, all polyethylene foil waste returned by profine customers in Germany and all internal production foil waste will in future be recycled together with the supplier in a closed cycle and then fed back into production.
For Dr. Peter Mrosik, owner and CEO of profine GmbH, the switch to ecological packaging material is another important step in the company's holistic sustainability strategy: “We have set ourselves the goal of aligning our entire company with a future worth living in. With our products and manufacturing processes we protect the climate and with the use of recyclates we want to be a role model for intelligent recycling cycles. Our commitment to sustainability doesn't stop with the recycling of the profiles, it goes beyond that. It all works together and defines us."
The special feature of the new PCR packaging foils is that they are not made from single-origin post-industrial recyclate, but from post-consumer recyclate. This is obtained from plastic waste that accumulates in households, as well as partly from plastic residues from the seas, so-called ocean plastic. Together with profine, INFOLIO GmbH has succeeded in developing high-quality foils from this.
"We see it as our social responsibility to rely on closed and environmentally friendly cycles also in the packaging area, in line with the circular economy," explains Alexander Franke, Chief Supply Chain Officer and member of the profine Management Board. "We have carried out numerous tests and the new recycling foils meet all of our high requirements for the protection of our products," continues Franke.
The more than twenty different foils are always used when profiles are delivered on pallets or in bundles. This applies, for example, to the foil between the profile layers, the wrapping foil for the entire profile block and for enclosing the end faces. The material is also used for big bags and the moisture protection of the KÖMMERLING PVC-sheets.
Not only are the foils environmentally friendly, the straps for the fastening of the pallets and bundles, for example, is also made from 100 percent recycled material. Likewise, the styrofoam, which is used for lateral width adjustment. For cardboard boxes, profine GmbH has been using recycled material for a long time.
Dr. Peter Mrosik sums up: “The packaging will be just one more component of many in order to consistently convert the supply chains to sustainability. Together with our window manufacturing partners and our suppliers, we want to make the entire value chain sustainable."