The first thing we said was what would it take to be carbon zero by 2025 and work backwards from there? To be the most sustainable packaging company we have to ask the more difficult question. Many companies have the same goal but give themselves longer, when that usually means waiting until the technology catches up; transparency is key
The first thing we asked ourselves was, “What would it take to be carbon zero within 5 years?” and worked backwards from there. We could have asked, “What would it take to be carbon neutral by 2050?” and we would have found an answer. But if we want to be the most sustainable flexible packaging company, we have to ask the more difficult questions.
Most companies set a longer-term target, wait for technology to catch up and – as the target approaches – make reducing their carbon footprint easier. This is not our way. Climate change is real and it is urgent. Ours is a stretch goal and we have many things to get right in order to achieve that vision, but we know what we need to do.
For Wipak, innovative design and cutting-edge technology are part of our everyday to help us reach our target. We already create solutions which use recycled, recyclable, and renewable materials, effectively helping us to contribute to a circular economy. Since 2013 we have also been in close collaboration with digital watermarks expert Digimarc®. Their invisible barcodes cover the surface of consumer goods packaging and are revolutionizing the way packaging is sorted in the post-consumer waste management system. Through increased accuracy in the waste management and sorting process, we can achieve more efficient recycling and a higher quality of recyclates which benefits the entire value chain. Wipak is proud to be one of the first certified partners to implement Digimarc® barcodes in Europe and is excited to see how this will shape the future of industrial packaging.
We have already been modernizing our warehouses with LED lights, our plants around the world are set to be using 100% renewable energy in the very near future, and we are aiming for carbon-neutral production in 2022. From there, we will take steps to turn all our products fully recyclable, before working our way towards bio-based packaging. Currently, we are measuring the CO2 impact of everything we do at Wipak, making it possible to tell our customers what the CO2 footprint of their packaging is and how to reduce it.
These are just a few of the ways we are lowering our environmental impact and contributing to a circular economy, something we will continue to do even beyond 2025.
Every week we will be answering questions of interest to our consumers. Have more questions? Contact us HERE today!
