Our view on sustainability
The time that we took plastic packaging for granted is already far behind us. For years, we have been striving for innovation and the ability to be competitive without loss of service to our customers and of course bringing our products to our partners in the best sustainable way. However, sometimes it can be really hard to determine what is sustainable and what is not. Today we see new and different materials on the market that appear to be “green and environment friendly” but are hardly in any way.
Biodegradable packaging or compostable packaging are certainly not more eco-friendly than regular plastic packaging when you compare the CO2 emissions throughout the entire supply chain. In addition, most of these apparently green alternatives are not recyclable at all. Besides that, the overall proces of ''environment friendly packaging'' are much slower compared to plastic packaging. This ensures that these items are also higher in price than disposable items.
Where do we believe in?
At Dampack, we believe that the answer for now and in the future lies in an optimisation of the recycling process. The materials which we use to make our packaging already consist mostly of recycled materials. In addition, these materials are 100% recyclable so we create a possible cradle-2-cradle situation. During the last decade we already changed many items in our program to r-PET (recycled PET).
Our industry already is doing a lot when it comes to circularity but we are certainly not there yet. At Dampack, we think before we act which means we start with thinking about the design of the packaging. Can we save some weight so we can reduce the use of plastics in general without harming the use that the packaging was intended for? We hereby advice our customers, colleagues and partners frequently which materials can best be used for which purpose.
Fortunately we all seem to realise that we cannot do this on our own and we need to share our knowledge and experience because without sharing the knowledge we, as a whole, will not be able to take the next step forward.
We aim for circular economy which is crucial throughout the entire process since this is of inestimable value. Therefore the magic words are reduce, reuse, rethink, recycle, renew!
DE FEDERATIE NEDERLANDSE RUBBER– EN KUNSTSTOFINDUSTRIE
Dampack International BV is a member of the NRK Federation – Rubber en Kunststof Nederland Federatie. But what is it?
The NRK represents the interests of approximately 400 companies from 19 industry associations in the Netherlands. Their aim is a healthy climate for the manufacturing industry and to stimulate competitiveness, innovation, knowledge transfer, education and vocational training, a better environment and recycling. Members of the NRK do business sustainably and with an eye for people, planet, profit and polymers.
We are therefore at the forefront when it comes to innovation. For example, we are actively working on a material sustainability plan.This plan is an initiative of the NRK Verpakkingen and Plastics-Europe Nederland and describes a pallet of measures that can be taken by parties in the packaging chain to make packaged products and packaging materials more sustainable.
For more information click on the link below.
http://www.rethinkplastics.nl/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/I_NRK17002-01_flyer_routekaart_A5-v7.pdf
This is what Dampack stands for and this is what Dampack does!
More information
If you want to learn more about this topic and how you can follow these guidelines, we will be happy to advise you. Take a look at our contact page and feel free to contact us.