BIRKENFELD, Germany — Polyethylene bags are now a thing of the past in logistics operations for WMF and HEPP cutlery items. Instead of plastic, proHeq GmbH is now using new, specially developed paper bags. By taking this step, the gastronomy professionals from Birkenfeld are reducing their plastic consumption within the global supply chain by more than 40 per cent.
“The continuing reduction in plastic waste is an important part of our Corporate Social Responsibility Charter. In a sector where there has been no alternative packaging to polyethylene bags for a long time, our new dispatch concept is an important indicator of environmentally-friendlier and innovative use of materials,” explains Susanne Schmidt, Head of Marketing and Product Management proHeq.
The new paper bags are now gradually becoming obligatory for all proHeq cutlery suppliers too. As a result, the roll-out of the initiative will concern up to 25 million cutlery items that proHeq imports every year from the Asian region.
Besides the significant improvement in the company’s ecological footprint, the paper bags also offer great quality and economical advantages.
“The airtight material of polyethylene bags caused the cutlery items to develop a grey tarnish during transportation. We had to manually correct this discolouration at our site in Dornstadt – a time and cost factor that is now completely eliminated,” continues Schmidt.
The paper bags were developed together with an American paper mill, and environmental aspects remained the primary focus: With a production facility based in China, they are able to provide economically efficient and ecologically intelligent support for this transition within the entire Asian supply chain.
