Sustainability

Environment

›› We contribute to the global Climate protection targets and a circular-oriented future. We do this by reducing our own emissions, realigning our business processes and empowering our customers with innovative machinery and products.‹‹

Get in touch

Our two main field of Actions in Environmental Sustainability

Climate protection

As a manufacturing company, we continuously reduce our own carbon footprint. We are guided by the Science-Based Targets initiative and set a fixed target for the reduction.

Circular economy

We meet our special responsibility in the flexible packaging market by promoting a Circular economy and mitigating the consequences of waste through our actions and technologies.

Climate protection - Balancing and reducing the carbon footprint

In the topic area of Climate protection, the W&H Group is guided by the Science Based Targets initiative with the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Accordingly, each company in theGroup aims to reduce emissions by 4.2% per year.

In 2021/2022,the Company Carbon Footprint (CCF) of W&H KG was determined for the first time retroactively for 2019, 2020 and 2021. Other subsidiaries will follow until the end of 2022. In this context, W&H accounts for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions according to the principles of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG, Scope 1,2 and 3). The result: With around 30,000 tons of CO2 on average for the years 2019-2021, W&H KG in Lengerich is slightly above average compared to other mechanical engineering companies.

What we achieved so far:

-4% Reduction of Company Carbon Footprint from 2019 to 2022

What we did 2021/2022:

100% Green electricity and green gas for our headquarters in Lengerich
Taking climate impact into account in investments
Travelling more consciously

CIRCULAR ECONOMY - MACHINE INNOVATIONS FOR PRODUCING RECYCLABLE PACKAGING

Since its foundation, W&H has specialized in machines for the flexible packaging market. While in the beginning the focus was on paper as a material for bags and pouches, machines for producing and processing plastics were added from the 1960s onwards. Today, W&H offers machines in the business units that focus on extrusion, printing and processing paper, film and woven fabric.

Customers all over the world use W&H machines to produce materials that ultimately become flexible packaging. W&H is convinced of the protective properties of flexible packaging, especially when made of plastic. Flexible packaging effectively contributes to less waste. They save more CO2 than their production generates.

However, W&H also accepts the responsibility that disposable packaging contributes significantly to environmental pollution and growing mountains of waste.
The positive properties of flexible packaging, such as durability and performance, become an issue at the end of its life cycle. When disposed of improperly, flexible packaging contributes to environmental pollution.For this reason, it is vital that flexible packaging be fully integrated into a Circular economy in the future.

What we already achieved:

With well over 100 MDO systems installed worldwide, W&H is the leader for this technology to produce recycable films
Customers around the world are using W&H technologies to produce packaging ready for a circular economy and reduce waste and resource consumption

What we did in 2021/2021: