Cooperations worldwide
With different partners, organisations and associations
CEFLEX
A circular economy for flexible packaging
Driving towards circular economy
And we are part of it
We see it as our duty to help to preserve precious resources. This is why we are a member of a collaborative project of a European consortium of companies and associations representing the entire value chain of flexible packaging called CEFLEX.
The mission of the project is to make flexible packaging more relevant to the circular economy. This should be achieved by advancing better system design solutions via the collaboration of companies representing the entire value chain.
The CEFLEX-Vision
- By 2020 flexible packaging should be recycled in most European countries.
- By 2025 a collection, sorting and reprocessing infrastructure/economy developed for post-consumer flexible packaging across Europe will be established.
We are part of PRINTCYC
In March 2019 a value chain project initiative was launched by a group of companies under the acronym PRINTCYC (Printed PP films for mechanical recycling) to research and test ways to create circular economy solutions basing on post-industrial waste. Members of PRINTCYC: The machine suppliers Brückner Maschinenbau, Kiefel and PackSys Global, the film producer Profol, the ink manufacturers Huber Group and Siegwerk, the converters Constantia Flexibles and Wipak as well as the recycling specialist Erema.
The initiative is coordinated by akk innovation, an independent start-up company for sustainable innovation management in the plastics packaging industry. The specific target of the first two project phases was to understand the impact of different ink formulations on the mechanical PP and PE recycling process. Furthermore, the re-usability of PP and PE recyclates (rPP / rPE) made from printed post-industrial film waste was evaluated in cast film, blown film, compression moulding and thermoforming technologies as well as the biaxial stretching process. Now the team is contacting new, prospective value chain partners and other recycling initiatives for designing the next working package to contribute to a circular economy of printed PP and PE films.
We are part of R-Cycle
R-Cycle is the open and globally usable tracing standard along the life cycle of plastic packaging. The overall goal is to implement a practical solution, ensuring recyclability by seamless documentation of all recycling-relevant packaging properties based on established technologies. In the recycling process, packaging can thus be precisely identified in order to process the resulting recyclate into diverse and high-quality plastic products.
In collaboration with packaging manufacturers, brand owners, wholesalers, and retailers global identification numbers should be introduced and IoT gateways, the necessary server infrastructure and standardized formats for secure data exchange will be developed. Partners in this project are: Arburg, Kautex Maschinenbau, Reifenhäuser, Brückner Maschinenbau, EREMA, Kampf Schneid- und Wickeltechnik, MULTIVAC, STEINERT, the Institute for Plastics Processing (IKV) and GS1 Germany.
Read more about the consortium
R-Cycle at a glance
DownloadBlue Competence
A sustainability initiative we participate in
Blue Competence establishes network links for the mechanical engineering industry in the area of sustainability and pools the resources, know-how and strengths of the German Engineering Federation (VDMA), the largest engineering industry network in Europe.
Blue Competence – these are the technologies and processes of mechanical and plant engineering which, for example, consume a minimum amount of energy while delivering maximum productivity, preserve our resources, reduce emissions to a minimum or improve people's living conditions in a sustainable way.
Every VDMA member company can participate in the Blue Competence initiative after signing the Blue Competence contract and the associated obligation to publish the twelve sustainability guidelines of the machinery and plant engineering industry on the internet.
How Blue Competence makes the world more sustainable
The participating companies publish their individual articles and solutions regarding the key questions of our time, accompanied and supported by the communication measures of the overall and professional associations. For this purpose, Blue Competence defines well-founded sustainability criteria and standards which all companies participating in the initiative endorse. The initiative thus ensures greater transparency, simplifies orientation and provides security to all those seeking sustainable solutions and products or companies operating sustainably.
On www.bluecompetence.net the VDMA publishes detailed information on the participating professional associations and companies, as well as „best-practice examples“, standpoints and positions which are significant for the implementation of sustainable business, ecological and societal solutions.
Other associations & organisations we work with:
- BOPET Films Europe representing BOPET film producers in the European market, aiming to boost the circularity of flexible packaging
- DIN: As a partner of business, research and society, the German Institute for Standardization e.V. contributes significantly to developing innovations to market maturity and opening up future fields such as Industry 4.0 and Smart Cities. Around 33,500 experts from industry and research contribute their expertise - including experts from Brückner Maschinenbau.
- EUROMAP: Since 1964, EUROMAP has been the umbrella organization of the European plastics and rubber machinery industry, accounting for about 40% of world production and 50% export volume.
- fortiss: fortiss is the research institute of the Free State of Bavaria for software-intensive systems and services. In particular, basic and application-oriented research is being conducted in the areas of software and systems engineering, cyber-physical systems and information systems as well as in the fields of information security, broadband infrastructure and network policy, e-government and digital innovations.
- Mittelstand 4.0: The initiative "Mittelstand 4.0 - Digital Production and Work Processes" supports small and medium-sized enterprises and skilled trades in digitization, networking and implementation of Industry 4.0 applications. The companies are assisted by a total of 23 Mittelstand 4.0 competence centers throughout Germany.
