Verpackungen

As much as necessary but as little as possible

An overview of our packaging

MOIN makes good food, which we want to provide as many people as possible with. To protect our baked goods on their way from us to you, we have to pack them well. To ensure freshness and hygiene standards, the packaging must meet certain requirements and provide a sufficient barrier against water and oxygen. As it stands, plastic is the best choice. In the following table we would like to give you an overview of the materials we currently use, what they are made of, how they can be recycled and whether there are alternatives.

By the way, we have conducted a very interesting interview on this topic with the plastics expert Dr. Harald Käb, which you can read here.

tabel_packaging

The majority of our baked goods leave production in bulk packaging with up to 75 pieces per carton - this means: a lot of content with relatively little packaging. These rolls, croissants, strudels and much more are available at the bakery counter, and from there you are welcome to carry them home in the bag you brought with you. Since April 2019, due to modifications on our packaging machines, we have been saving 15% of the plastic film used for the bags of our crusty rolls, spelt la flute mini and pretzel rolls, which you can find in the freezer section of organic food stores (see Great taste in smaller bags for more information).

In the hope of being able to save on cardboard boxes in the future, we are currently testing a deposit system for our bulk packaging. Coating the cardboard boxes from the inside to save on plastic would not make sense, as it would then no longer be possible to recycle them. For this very reason, the small boxes for our fine doughs and filled dumplings are also uncoated. Therefore you can easily seperate the box and plastic foil and dispose of them in the appropriate recycling system at home.

We were also able to halve our use of stretch film compared to the previous year. And with regard to our adhesive tape, we are currently testing one made of cardboard, as this is currently considered the most environmentally friendly alternative to straps. Unfortunately, straps do not protect our bakery products sufficiently during reloading and if our good food had to be thrown away due to transport damage, we would have much higher losses in terms of sustainability.

As far as packaging goes that comes with the materials we use in our bakery, we recycle pretty much all of it. All cardboard and plastic films that we receive from our suppliers are recycled in the neighbouring paper mill, Steinbeis GmbH, into things like printer paper. Plastics that can no longer be recycled are used to generate heat and electricity, which are necessary for paper production. And our dough waste is converted into biogas.

It is also interesting to know that we produce just 80 litres of residual waste every 14 days. For a company with more than 60 employees, that's pretty good. Which is not to say that it couldn't be better. There is always room for improvement and that's why we will of course continue to work on this topic. In our experience, it is important to take a close look at the changes that will really help us move forward. Up to now, new materials often promise more than they can deliver, which is why saving on existing materials is a good approach. The subject of packaging and plastics is complex and will continue to demand our attention. After all, sustainability is not a state, but a path of continuous improvement, as Dr. Harald Käb so beautifully said in our interview. Read more here.

Published
4. February 2020
by Natascha Solis

keywords

packaging | resources | responsibility | sustainability