The company keeps an eye on the entire manufacturing process and has continuously optimized climate-friendly production in recent years, and is now presenting climate-neutral reusable products for the first time.

Transparency for the customer

For the introduction of its climate-neutral products, Bekuplast is using the support of its partner Climate Partner, a solution provider in the field of climate protection. "We deliberately chose Climate Partner because we were convinced by the concept and maximum transparency," says Jan Sünneker, CRM Manager at Bekuplast. If a customer opts for the climate-neutral version of a Bekuplast product, they can see exactly which climate protection project is being invested in to compensate for this. The success of these projects is also transparently documented. The climate protection projects, which have been tested and certified according to international standards, demonstrably save CO2. Additional security is guaranteed by Climate Partner's TÜV Austria-certified process for offsetting CO2 emissions.

The path to a climate-neutral product

Calculation, reduction, compensation - this is the concept Bekuplast has opted for. The CO2 emissions are calculated together with Climate Partner. For each product, raw materials, logistics, packaging and disposal were considered according to the common "cradle-to-gate plus end-of-life" approach and finally a product carbon footprint (PCF) was created. Wherever possible, further measures were taken to avoid and reduce CO2 emissions. The PCF is updated regularly and the success of the reduction measures is reviewed at the same time. All remaining CO2 emissions that cannot be avoided are offset by supporting climate protection projects.

The result is a climate-neutral product that can be labeled with the independent "climate-neutral" label. This label indicates that the product is climate-neutral. At the same time, information about the supported climate protection project can be viewed via the ID in the label.

The most important requirement for all recognized climate protection projects is that these projects are actually additional climate protection measures and that the contribution to reducing CO2 in the atmosphere is clearly measurable. These can be both reforestation measures and the replacement of climate-damaging technologies with climate-friendly alternatives.

Credible sustainability strategy

Bekuplast has selected climate protection projects to offset its products, such as regional tree planting projects, the international marine conservation project "Plastic Bank" or a climate protection project for the expansion of wind energy. Bekuplast customers can also select other projects from the Climate Partner portfolio on request. All climate protection projects avoid CO2 emissions and at the same time aim to achieve global sustainability goals, such as combating poverty or improving living conditions in emerging and developing countries. "Many customers have already expressed interest, as the purchase of climate-neutral products is becoming increasingly important as part of companies' sustainability strategies," says Jan Sünneker, describing initial experiences. More and more companies are focusing on issues such as sustainability and climate protection. Purchasing climate-neutral products is a practicable solution for making a contribution to global climate protection and at the same time strengthening the credibility of their sustainability strategy.

The article appeared in materialfluss 8-9/22.