What companies in Germany keep resources in the loop longest through reuse, recycling, or repair? What innovative approaches to waste reduction are in use today? ServiceValue GmbH and the F.A.Z. Institute examined these questions in detail. In a two-stage web monitoring process between 2022 and 2024, they analyzed the data from 5,500 companies in 38 industries. Now the results are in: Südpack achieved the top rating in the “Packaging Manufacturer” category. With a score of 100 points, the company sets the benchmark for all the other companies in its industry included in the study.
“Leadership in Sustainability” is a primary goal of Südpack. The company originally aimed to meet the ambitious targets in its sustainability strategy by 2030, but is already close to achieving them. In the 2022 and 2023 crosssector sustainability rankings of WirtschaftsWoche magazine, the film manufacturer was named one of the top sustainability performers among Germany’s medium-d companies. This latest study, which was supported scientifically by the Institute for Management and Economic Research (IMWF), defines Südpack as a pioneer and model in the area of circular economy in the packaging industry, awarding it top position in this market in 2024.
The process
The study is not just a current snapshot but the result of extensive research and evaluations over many months. The first stage from August 1, 2022 to July 31, 2024 consisted of crawling German-language internet sources, including editorial webpages and social media, using defined key words to identify all relevant texts from the internet. The second stage, processing, used AI to analyze the collected data and its fragmentation. In this way, some 3.5 million uses of the key words by around 5,500 companies were identified, allocated, and weighted in terms of range and tonality balance. In the tonality balance, “ecological sustainability” was weighted at 50%, “economic sustainability” at 30%, and “general sustainability” at 20%. Next, the points awarded to all companies and brands were standardized according to industry. The best company in each industry achieved the benchmark of 100 points, and received the award “Germany’s best in circular economy 2024”.
Südpack actively drives the transformation process
“With this award, the initiators recognize companies that apply sustainable methods and business models to combat today’s throwaway society and that prove ecological and business success can go together,” underlines Erik Bouts, the CEO of Südpack. He believes the award has come at just the right time. “We set new standards with our recyclable and material-reduced product developments and point the way to a sustainable future. The same goes for our policy of expanding capacities and technologies for compounding, regranulation, and chemical recycling. But a genuine transformation can only happen if industry, politics, legislation, and society take the next steps jointly.”
This dedication to the responsible use of raw materials and recyclables, curbing the consumption of fossil resources, and optimizing the carbon footprint along the entire supply chain is rooted in the DNA of the successful, family-owned company. Südpack operates its own material management system and holds the majority share in carboliq GmbH. carboliq is a groundbreaking process for direct oiling of a wide range of plastic fractions. As a result of these two factors, Südpack is currently the only film manufacturer able to use both mechanical and chemical recycling for its products.
“As a valuable resource, carbon must be kept in the loop”
The carboliq plant in Ennigerloh has already impressively demonstrated that mixed and contaminated post-consumer plastics as well as previously non-recyclable composite materials can be transformed into a high-value liquid re-source. Erik Bouts sums it up best himself: “The circular economy in the plastics and packaging industry is no utopia. It’s already a reality at Südpack!”
The F.A.Z. study
… is available online at https://www.faz.net/asv/beste-in-der-kreislaufwirtschaft.
The complete findings are presented at www.servicevalue.de.
