AN IMPORTANT STEP TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY

Say goodbye to plastic packaging

Freudenberg Home and Cleaning Solutions has taken an important step towards sustainability at its site in Aurora, Illinois, USA: eliminating plastic packaging for Vileda and O-Cedar products conserves valuable resources and significantly reduces CO2 emissions.

The mop heads for the EasyWring & Clean and RinseClean floor cleaning systems have a long journey ahead of them before they are packed in boxes to be sold in the USA and Canada. And no mishap can befall them on this journey. Until recently, they were wrapped in polybags to protect them from dirt and damage during storage and transport.

In October 2023, however, a Freudenberg team conducted a thorough analysis and came to the conclusion that this packaging was no longer necessary.

The plastic packaging could be entirely eliminated by making certain adjustments in production and logistics processes. At the same time, innovative measures made sure the mop heads were clean and undamaged at the end of their journey – without any additional packaging.

Although dispensing with the packaging only saves 4.25 grams per unit, the overall weight saving is impressive: some 50,000 kilograms of packaging material are saved each year. That is equivalent to more than 125,000 kilograms of scope 3 CO2 emissions – a significant contribution to climate protection.

Apart from the ecological advantages this measure also brings benefits for the company in terms of cost efficiency, and demonstrates how environmental awareness and economic efficiency go hand in hand.