Climate change is proceeding at pace. Governments alone cannot avert the threat. Industry and commerce worldwide has to become active. In order to inspire companies to become involved in the battle against climate change, the media company Bloomberg has initiated the “50 Sustainability & Climate Leaders” campaign, which promotes the most successful company strategies for sustainability. Part of the initiative is a documentary series, which presents approaches to all aspects of sustainable business activity.
“The film shows, how significant our sustainability drive at many different levels is for our daily business operation,” explains Christian Traumann, Group President of MULTIVAC. At the end of 2021, the company will also take part in a summit organised by the United Nations, at which the 50 Climate Leaders will come together for podium discussions, debates and interviews. The short film was made for this summit, which was postponed due to coronavirus, but can now be broadcast.
Reducing food wastage by 10 percent
The battle against waste in food processing is one of the pillars of MULTIVAC’s sustainability strategy. For example, the state-of-the-art equipment produced by the MULTIVAC Group makes it possible to slice and portion food without waste and with a high level of process reliability. This precision is today more relevant than ever. Figures from Germany’s Federal Agricultural Ministry show that just in Germany alone, more than 2.2 million tons of food are lost every year during processing – for example due to slicing trim and damaged or faulty packs. “Thanks to innovative portioning and slicing solutions, it is possible to reduce process-related food waste by around ten percent,” emphasizes Christian Traumann. “We also pay particular attention to ensuring, that the packaging process at our customers is always resource-saving and gentle on the product thanks to the right machine technology, suitable packaging materials and an optimum pack design.”
Other significant areas of action in MULTIVAC’s sustainability strategy are the optimisation of the company’s internal and logistical processes, as well as the sustainable production of packaging machines with a particularly long service life.
The issue of sustainable packaging is also top of the agenda at MULTIVAC. In order to reduce CO2 emissions and worldwide plastic waste, the MULTIVAC Group is working with leading manufacturers on the development of sustainable packaging materials, for example made from mono films or renewable materials, as well as designing the appropriate machine technology. “One of the most important issues at the moment, as regards climate protection and sustainability, is the proactive support for our customers, so that by 2025 the majority of all packs can be made from recyclable packaging materials,” explains Christian Traumann.
Collaboration with initiatives, research institutes and universities
Achieving more together: MULTIVAC is also involved in a large number of initiatives and collaborative projects to advance sustainability solutions. The company is a founding member of the Save Food Initiative by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, and it collaborates with many international associations such as the Circular Plastics Alliance and CEFLEX, as well as national organisations like the VDMA industry association and its “Blue Competence” initiative. “And last but not least, our collaboration with universities and research institutes makes a major contribution to rethinking packaging materials and designing more sustainable pack concepts,” says Christian Traumann in summary.