THE EUROPEAN PACKAGING NETWORK

Sustainabiliy and Climate Contribution

PackSynergy AG is a company making a  finanical climate contribution.

As the European Packaging Network with a more than 20-year history, we are guided by our responsibility towards people and the environment as our contribution to future generations.

We support sustainability projects and initiatives. As an initiator and catalyst for experienced packaging wholesalers throughout Europe, we encourage them to develop – and continuously optimize – environmentally and resource friendly processes and products.

INITIATIVES

FOCUS ON SUSTAINABILITY

By offsetting our company’s emissions, we underline our commitment to climate protection and sustainability. Many PackSynergy Partners as also making a  finanical climate contribution. Offsetting unavoidable corporate emissions via support for climate action projects represents an important element of any comprehensive climate action strategy along with the avoidance and reduction of carbon dioxide emissions.

Our Climate Partner label and the certificate showing our ClimatePartner ID number ensure the necessary transparency about the way we offset our carbon emissions as well as our commitment to national and international carbon offset projects.

"We see ourselves
as an initiator in the
world of packaging."
gelber Hintergrund
THOMAS A. BAUR
CEO | PACKSYNERGY AG
Unternehmensführung, Geschäftsleitung

Sustainability concept

in the network

Climate Contribution

Group-wide

At PackSynergy AG, we pursue two distinct approaches with our environmental initiative. Our European member companies are urged to follow our lead.

The first of these approaches involves certifying the corporate carbon footprint (CCF) of all network members.

The second entails certifying the product carbon footprint (PCF) of the principal products in each member’s packaging and material portfolio.

As regards the product carbon footprint seven uniform product groups have been defined in our network as the standard for all partner companies, in order to ensure the greatest possible consistency throughout Europe.

Requirements

for suppliers

PackSynergy observes uniform principles together with the (group) suppliers in the network.

These principles are intended to provide members with a framework and support in their efforts to increase their customers’ use of resource and environmentally friendly packaging solutions and processes.

The aim is for our partners to give preference to – and primarily offer –  products with finanical climate contribution and which help reduce material use, conform to FSC standards and encourage the use of recyclates.

Our suppliers regularly communicate information on product groups to the group and in doing so promote the use of sustainable products.

Knowledge

Management

In order to encourage sustainability initiatives in day-to-day business, we promote an active exchange of sustainability knowledge within our network.

Individual pioneers share their know-how with other member companies in project groups as well as regular, virtual workshops.

We deliberately avoid restricting such exchanges of views to mere climate issues: we want to broaden and deepen our expertise in this way and create synergies for more sustainability. We’re talking about improved living conditions today and tomorrow – for us and for coming generations. As a strong pan-European group, we’re keen to take a stance here.

All across Europe, we support the development of sustainable and environmentally friendly packaging solutions and materials which save both resources and energy.

 

INNOVATIVE and sustainable

packaging solutions

Our partners stand for strong product innovations in challenging settings. PackSynergy members develop special or individual packaging solutions for demanding customers and market them all over Europe. Innovation & sustainability are driven by the intensive interaction within the network.

Our partners can supply you with a wide range of sustainable packaging solutions. Sustainability and environmental awareness are playing an ever greater role in society – and with them the desire for alternatives to conventional packaging solutions. PackSynergy and its members are conscious of their responsibility and their portfolios include many different types of sustainable packaging. More efficiency and sustainability in the mail order sector, logistics and industry: our products and process solutions are based on the latest product innovations, so that we can offer you the most efficient and the most resource friendly solutions and materials every time.

 

PackSynergy Environmental Assessment Scoring

PEAS

 

At PackSynergy, we are working with great commitment on a rating system to make the sustainability of different packaging solutions transparent and comparable. We make every effort to support and advise our customers in the best possible way in the selection of sustainable packaging solutions.
A minimum standard for functionality guarantees the intactness of the product as the first crucial sustainability measure.

Subsequently, factors such as material reduction, recyclability and use of recycled material, use of renewable resources and climate protection play an important role. With the support of external experts, we ensure that the expected legal requirements are taken into account.

PEAS will be an essential tool for our consulting experts to competently and efficiently select sustainable packaging alternatives. Considering the application, the most environmentally friendly and useful solution is then determined together with the customer.

CLIMATE PARTNER

Climate Contribution

Sparing and responsible use of resources in all processes is a central element of sustainable business in our network.

ClimatePartner offers climate action solutions – by calculating carbon emissions together with customers, showing how they can be reduced, initiating climate action strategies and offsetting CO2 emissions in carbon offset projects – reducing emissions to the lowest level possible.

WHAT IS MEANT BY

Climate Contribution?

Anyone who buys products with  finanical climate contribution is making a concrete contribution to fighting global warming.

The ClimatePartner label guarantees the financial contribution to the labelled product  – or service. All carbon emissions inevitably generated in the value chain have been calculated and offset via recognized carbon offset projects. 

This means that consumers can easily take climate action with everyday purchasing decisions: from climate-friendly print products to hotel stays or from food and beverage products to packaging and office stationery or even events.

CALCULATE CARBON EMISSIONS

We calculated our company’s carbon emissions together with ClimatePartner and measured our corporate carbon footprint (CCF) – from heating and energy to business travel, office supplies and how our employees commute to work. We also gathered data concerning the raw materials for our products as well as packaging, logistics and disposal.

Avoid and Reduce

We avoid and reduce these carbon emissions wherever possible.

We update our CCF regularly, to enable us to gauge the success of the measures taken so far.

OFFSET CARBON EMISSIONS

We offset all unavoidable carbon emissions by supporting a carbon offset project. That’s what makes us a carbon-neutral company and it’s why selected products have achieved carbon-neutrality. Carbon offset projects save on carbon emissions, for example through afforestation efforts or by replacing ecologically harmful technologies with climate-friendly alternatives. For more information on our current carbon offset project, see: www.climatepartner.com/1087

Carbon offset project

We support:

To offset our carbon emissions, we support a recognized climate action project which is certified according to international standards:

Plastic Bank, ocean protection worldwide

Money for plastic –  this is the approach taken by the Plastic Bank. In Haiti, Indonesia, Brazil and the Philippines, people collect plastic waste. At local collection points, they can exchange it for money, food, drinking water, credits on their mobile or even school fees. The project makes sure that less plastic ends up in the sea. Instead, it is recycled and turned into so-called social plastic, which serves as raw material for new products such as packaging. For more information on the project, see: www.climatepartner.com/1087

 

EMISSION-OFFSETTING PARTNERS

in our network

The aim is to lower CO2 emissions to the minimum – on the one hand of the cororate, on the one hand of the corporate carbon footprint (CCF) of our partner companies and on the other, of the product carbon footprint (PCF) of large sections of the network’s product and process portfolio. In addition to many other environmental protection measures, the following partners are currently making a financial contribution to climate protection

 

Glossary

Key concepts explained.

CCF

Corporate Carbon Footprint

The CCF is the carbon emissions related to a company. When we calculate it together with ClimatePartner, we proceed according to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard. With ClimatePartner’s help, we measure Scope 1, 2 and 3 carbon emissions, which are defined as follows: Scope 1 are direct emissions we produce as a business while Scope 2 are direct emissions resulting from purchased energy and Scope 3 covers indirect emissions due to upstream and downstream processes such as raw materials, logistics, disposal, etc. See also PCF.

CO2 equivalents

CCFs and PCFs are an expression of all relevant greenhouse gases as defined by the Kyoto Protocol: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (“laughing gas”, N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFC), perfluorohydrocarbons (PFC), sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) and nitrogen trifluoride (NF3). Since each of these gases enhances the greenhouse effect to a different extent and remains in the atmosphere for a different length of time, they are converted into so-called CO2 equivalents. The total emissions are popularly referred to as the carbon footprint.

Greenhouse Gas Protocol

The GHG Protocol is a globally recognized standard for measuring a company’s emissions. It was established by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). Five basic principles must be observed when calculating a corporate carbon footprint and reporting carbon emissions: relevance, completeness, consistency, accuracy and transparency.

FINANICAL CLIMATE CONTRIBUTION

Financial climate contribution means that companies calculate their  emissions, reduce them as far as possible and finance climate protection  projects in the amount of the calculated emissions - for their products, services, the company itself or other areas. By financing certified climate protection projects from the ClimatePartner portfolio, companies are helping to close the enormous financing gap in global climate protection.

In addition to the reduction of emissions, financial support is urgent and necessary, because climate protection requires swift action. Certified climate protection projects demonstrably save CO2 emissions or bind CO2 from the atmosphere and also contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) worldwide.

Companies can confirm this voluntary and important commitment with the "Financial climate contribution" label and create transparency: Via the established ClimatePartner ID tracking system consumers can find out details about the climate protection projects financed.

Carbon Offset Project

Carbon offset projects demonstrably save carbon emissions, for example through forest protection and afforestation or by transitioning to renewable energy sources. Carbon offset projects also contribute to sustainable development in the countries involved, for example by improving clean drinking water supplies, expanding local infrastructures, creating jobs or protecting biodiversity. In order to be recognized and certified as such, carbon offset projects must meet four criteria: additionality, no double counting, permanence and regular inspection by an independent organization.

Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol is an additional protocol adopted by the United Nations in Kyoto (Japan) on 11 December 1997 to operationalize the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The Convention was ratified by 193 parties and for the first time sets binding emission reduction targets for industrialized countries. Participating industrialized countries undertake to reduce their annual greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions in accordance with agreed individual targets, for instance by an average of 5.2 percent compared to 1990 levels over the five year period from 2008 to 2012. The Convention also aims to enable sustainable development in emerging and developing countries.

Paris Agreement

The Paris Agreement on Climate Change was adopted by 196 parties in 2015 with the goal of curbing global warming from 2020 onwards. For the first time, all nations – industrialized, emerging and developing countries – are now united by a common cause to combat climate change. We attach particular importance to three of the Agreement’s objectives: to limit global warming to a maximum of 1.5 degrees Celsius, to achieve a climate-neutral world economy by mid-century and to define binding reduction targets every five years.

PCF

Product Carbon Footprint

The PCF is the carbon emissions related to a product. The calculation is based on the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Product Life Cycle Accounting and Reporting Standard, which establishes clear criteria for this purpose. A PCF normally covers the complete life cycle of a product from its manufacture and logistics to the use phase and disposal (cradle-to-grave). See also CCF.