"Fit for the future - sustainability & innovation at SPIES" was the topic of the event "Spätschicht: Industrie!" last Thursday (April 29, 2021). For this event, we were pleased to welcome well over 100 participants to a digital look behind the scenes at SPIES.
After the opening speech by the organizers IHK Osnabrück - Emsland - Grafschaft Bentheim and the Industrial Employers Association Osnabrück - Emsland - Grafschaft Bentheim e. V. (IAV) as well as the welcome address by our Managing Director Christof Spies, the participants got exclusive insights into the diverse areas of the company. An almost five-minute film replaced the tour through the company provided in presence and gave insights into the toolmaking, production and logistics as well as an overview of the entire company and the everyday working life at SPIES.
The relevant topics of digitalization, innovation and sustainability were repeatedly highlighted and, following the virtual tour of the company, again brought into focus by the impulse presentation "Fit for the future - sustainability & innovation at SPIES". The two speakers, Marie Hühne (Sustainability Manager) and Guido Pöhls (Business Development) explained at the beginning of the presentation, based on the drivers and trends, why SPIES must necessarily secure the future. They gave an overview of the many points with which SPIES is further expanding its future viability. In addition to an established "Team Future", an energy management, various certificates and optimization processes, SPIES daily deals with the possibilities of alternative raw materials, the ecological footprint of the company, conducts tests and trials and take part in various future projects and initiatives. For almost a year, Marie Hühne has been supporting the newly created sustainability department in the preparation of a sustainability report and the pursuit of the sustainability goals the company has set itself.
SPIES' message: "To reach the EU's ambitious CO2 targets, plastics are not the problem, but an important part of the solution." (Christof Spies, Managing Director SPIES Kunststoffe GmbH). Here it is necessary to understand that the plastic itself is not the problem, but the way society deals with this valuable material. On the basis of the current situation, it was made clear to the participants how present and unreplaceable this valuable material is in the everyday life of every individual: In the current time, we need plastic more than ever - for masks, tests, protective clothing and much more. But this valuable material also plays an important role in many other areas, such as food packaging. Packaging protects against contamination, conveys important information, ensures a much longer shelf life and, last but not least, simplifies handling and logistics, which consequently leads to massive savings in resources and CO2.
As a result, Marie Hühne called attention from her position as sustainability manager: "The decisive point is the path that each individual package takes after use. In this context, it must not be seen as waste and incorrectly disposed of in nature, but should rather be seen as a valuable resource and optimized for its path into a circular economy. This is exactly where SPIES, in cooperation with many other companies from different countries around the world, comes in with the project "Digital Watermarks - HolyGrail 2.0". According to the speakers, this is a kind of digital watermark, an invisible code incorporated into the material, which is invisible to the naked eye, but can be read by the sorting machines and the material can consequently be sorted and recycled.
Guido Pöhls also introduced the latest innovations and presented the rounded cup, which can be decorated using the IML process as a result of new, innovative technology. In contrast to the sleeve process used in the past, it is now possible to produce even curved products as 1-substance packaging, guaranteeing their recyclability in this way. Matching to this, the SPIES patented lid with cutlery part was also presented, which can be folded because of a special article design and can be sealed with a hygienic closure. A convenient, simple and sustainable replacement of the disposable cutlery used in the past, and recyclable to boot.
We would like to thank the organizers for organizing and running this successful event, as well as the numerous participants for their interest in our company.
You have become interested, still have questions or a project idea? Then contact Marie Hühne or Guido Pöhls or contact us by phone at: +49 5422 9411-0.
