Berry Global now counts three plastic flexible film plants that divert over 99% of waste from landfill. Its facility in Steinfeld, Germany is the firm’s latest European site to achieve Valpark’s Zero Waste to Landfill accreditation, which provides third-party assurance of over 99% waste diversion achieved at a facility over a 12-month period. The Steinfeld site joins the facilities at Rhymney and Heanor in the United Kingdom.
Berry’s Steinfeld operation produces premium quality industrial packaging, including Form Fill Seal (FFS) primary packaging for the chemical industry and shrink hood and advanced stretch hoods for transport and pallet protection that are widely used in a variety of industries such as the building and glass industry. The site also produces printed sheet packaging solutions for beverages and the peat and wood processing industry.
Some of the waste diverted from landfill stays at Steinfeld’s on-site recycling centre, which reprocesses post-consumer single variety film waste into regranulate for use in new packaging products.
As part of the company’s sustainability strategy, Berry has set a company-wide target of reducing landfill waste intensity by 5% year-over-year, where waste intensity is calculated by the amount of waste generated per 100 square metres. In 2022, Berry exceeded its target with an overall reduction of 8% landfill waste intensity.
The certification comes amid a recent announcement that Berry closed 20 of its facilities.