Environment

WE PROTECT THE CLIMATE AND NATURE

It is important to us to conserve natural resources and protect the environment. We therefore keep ecological sustainability always in mind at all times, both in the production and delivery of our food.

ENVIRONMENTALLY CONSCIOUS THINKING AND ACTING

Our most important duties in the field of environmental action have been the establishment of efficient recycling loops, the ecological optimisation of our packaging materials, the fight against climate change and environmentally friendly logistics. By making our PET recycling loop and our plastic packaging even more environmentally friendly, we are also making a significant contribution to REset Plastic – the common plastics strategy of the companies of Schwarz Group.

OUR GOAL IN THE FIELD OF ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION

to reach an average of roughly 90 percent recycled PET in our bottles. In Germany, we have been achieving 100 percent recycled PET since June 2021.

to make all plastic product packaging as recyclable as possible.

to save at least 33 million kWh of energy through energy efficiency measures.

to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent compared to the 2017 fiscal year.

CONSERVING RESOURCES WITH RECYCLED PET

Thanks to MEG’s efficient PET recycling loop and the continued reduction in the weight of PET single-use bottles, we save vast amounts of new PET material and CO₂ emissions each year. From 2008 to 2022, for instance, we managed to prevent the use of more than 700,000 tonnes of new PET material.

NEW RECYCLING SUCCESS

Since June 2021, all our PET bottles for Lidl and Kaufland in Germany have been made entirely of recycled PET (not including the cap and label).

0 %

recycled material is used for the packaging of our beverage types.

Recycled PET

HIGH PROPORTION OF RECYCLED CONTENT

We continuously strive to increase the percentage of recycled material in our bottles. Already today, we use 100 percent recycled material in our bottle bodies in Germany.

Recycled PET

DECREASING BOTTLE WEIGHT

Through ongoing research and development, we produce some of the lightest single-use PET bottles on the German market, resulting in less CO₂ during production and transport. Thanks to new bottle designs and changes to the manufacturing process, we have managed to reduce their weight as much as 35 percent in some cases.

RECYCLING IS THE FUTURE

Plastic is light, robust, and a safe and hygienic packaging material for food. Once used, the raw material can be recycled for a multitude of different purposes. With that in mind, we have set ourselves the goal of ensuring that our plastic product packaging is as recyclable as possible by 2025.

Recyclability

TESTING NEW MATERIALS

Along with our suppliers, we continuously carry out testing to optimise our packaging, for example for dried fruit and nuts. All our packaging materials have to meet our high standards with regard to product protection, transport safety and practicality for consumers.

Recyclability

KEEPING RECYCLABLES IN THE LOOP

A large amount of high-quality recyclable materials generated during the production of our goods is fed into a high-quality recycling process. In 2021, for instance, we re-used, recycled, fermented or composted about 91 percent of all our recyclable materials and waste. Through this commitment, we support efforts at European and national level to establish efficient recycling loops.

OPTIMISED ENERGY CONSUMPTION

We aim to achieve the lowest possible energy consumption levels on all the production facilities and storage technologies at our plants to use resources as efficiently as possible. Every production site of the Schwarz Produktion in Germany has an energy management system that is certified in accordance with ISO 50001. We implement a multitude of different projects with focus on energy efficiency every year.

SUCCESSFUL SAVINGS

We have significantly increased our energy efficiency since the 2018 fiscal year.
The savings equate to the energy consumption of

around 0

two-person households per year.

Energy efficiency

IMPLEMENTING ENERGY-SAVING MEASURES

Our local energy teams implement a wide range of different measures in production to increase energy efficiency. They include, but are not limited to, the optimisation of compressed air, efficiency optimisation, a reduction in idle times and heat recovery. By switching our lighting to energy-saving LED technology, we can also reduce our power consumption at many of our locations.

Energy efficiency

NEW INVESTMENTS

One of the sites that is making great progress in reducing electricity consumption is MEG Roßbach. In 2019, it invested in the construction of a new refrigeration system, which was put into operation in autumn 2020. The measure saves us as much electricity every year as the amount normally consumed by 1,700 two-person households.

WORKING TOGETHER TO COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE

As a part of the Schwarz Group, we support the group-wide climate strategy and thus the objectives of the 2016 Paris Climate Agreement. We are actively committed to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions in order to limit global warming. That’s why we are reducing our energy consumption and using renewable energies, for instance.

FAREWELL TO CO₂ EMISSIONS!

We are doing everything we can to avoid, reduce or compensate for emissions.

Around 0%

less CO2 per employee was produced in 2022 compared to 2017.

Climate protection

RENEWABLE ENERGIES

The use of renewable energies also helps us achieve our goals. MEG Wörth am Rhein is the first location of Schwarz Produktion to have its own photovoltaic plant. The plant’s performance is impressive – with around 6,000 photovoltaic modules, it generates about as much environmentally friendly electricity as 800 two-person households consume in a year.

Climate protection

SHORT-HAUL TRANSPORT

When we plan our production sites and their capacities, we try to keep the distances for transporting goods to and from our trading partners short. In recent years, for instance, we have invested in the restructuring of our MEG production network in Germany, reducing our average transport distances to around 180 km. That helps to minimise greenhouse gas consumption.

Climate protection

MODERN TRANSPORT LOGISTICS

Our continued modernisation of MEG’s lorry fleet is also making a significant contribution for climate protection: From 2014 to 2022, we managed to reduce the amount of fuel consumed by our vehicles by around 14 percent.

ECOLOGICAL AND EFFICIENT

Our recycling loop for PET beverage bottles is a vital part of our commitment to sustainability. We recycle used PET single-use bottles that have been handed into our stores, processing them into granulate which we then use to produce new beverage packaging. We thus make new bottles out of old ones.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PET RECYCLING LOOP

WE PROTECT THE CLIMATE AND NATURE

ENVIRONMENTALLY CONSCIOUS THINKING AND ACTING

OUR GOAL IN THE FIELD OF ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION