In the "Circular Competence" interview series, the VDMA Printing and Paper Technology Association asks its member companies about their plans, solutions, and challenges on the road to a circular economy. What can the industry do to minimise the ecological footprint of packaging and other printed products?

Frankfurt - Frank Eichhorn, Managing Director of Winkler+Dünnebier GmbH, talks in an interview about resource efficiency and about customers in search of environmentally friendly - yet affordable - products and processes.

According to the United Nations, the global demand for resources threatens to double by 2050. How do you trim your production for more resource efficiency?
Even if the possibilities in mechanical engineering are limited, we make consistent use of them: When purchasing new machines for our production, we pay attention to energy efficiency. We have optimised our compressed air systems and minimised their losses, and we sort all production waste by type. We have also put the first electric vehicles into operation. We are currently discussing the possibility of using photovoltaics to supply ourselves with renewable electricity. But of course, the leverage is much greater with the machines we develop and produce for our customers.

How do they use this leverage to make your customers use raw materials more efficiently?
An important approach is to save energy by using efficient drying systems and minimising the required vacuum consumption. We often use vacuum solutions for transporting the end products in our machines, which we are constantly optimising. We do this both for new machines and with retrofit solutions for existing machines. With our service solutions, we offer our customers to bring their long-lasting machines up to the latest state of the art. Sometimes all it takes is the installation of electronic modules. Sometimes we replace control cabinets. And in addition, we offer completely modernised second-hand machines through our subsidiary POEM. The extended service life, in combination with energy modernisation, helps to protect resources. In addition, there are many small improvements: For example, envelopes that used to get stuck in the drying process after a machine stop and become unusable are now automatically removed from the process. This way they remain usable. Mailings have an unjustified reputation for wasting resources. Our machines enable personalisable mailings individually tailored to target groups instead of mass mailings or digital email campaigns, which require a lot of energy but have been proven to achieve much lower response rates than targeted mailings by post. We are also leveraging efficiency potential in our production technology for tissue and hygiene products - among other things, by switching from plastic films to paper to package handkerchiefs or even individually wrapped hygiene products. The processes are like those for our envelopes. In addition, we are developing robust, resealable paper bags that can be used in e-commerce as an alternative to plastic bags and cardboard boxes. They are attracting a lot of interest from customers with whom we had not worked before.

Is the demand for resource-efficient solutions driven by regulation or by potential cost savings?
Costs are an important hygiene factor. They can significantly limit the demand for energy- and resource-efficient process solutions. But obviously social pressure is increasing and the new regulations in the packaging sector are having an effect. However, the switch from film to paper will only succeed if the costs are comparable. This is because end consumers will at best accept smaller cost surcharges for a reduced ecological footprint. That is why our customers pay a lot of attention to unit costs. We therefore invest in process optimisation and automation so that our customers can produce cost-efficiently with our solutions. Because ecological products will only be widely accepted if they are based on efficient processes. I see it as our core competence to integrate as many high-precision processes as possible into the machine inline at permanently high production speeds to ensure minimum unit costs for our customers.

How is this trend changing your research and development?
We have noticed for some time that our customers are looking for greener solutions and are more open to our ideas than before. We are now talking more often with marketing teams to show them opportunities for more resource-efficient products and packaging. We are taking a more proactive role and are now also approaching customers with ideas that are not yet ready - to then develop them together. Many customers feel the social pressure and want to produce more sustainably on their own. But they often don't know what options are available. That's why we advise them and show them technological opportunities. Fortunately, our range of customers has recently become broader as a result.

What should legislators do to promote resource-efficient technologies?
As a machine manufacturer, we see great opportunities in the upcoming transformation processes towards a more sustainable product and packaging world. However, we can only seize these opportunities with our customers if politicians set clear, long-term goals. They can be ambitious. But in all of this, the legislators must bear in mind that the process changes in the entire chain from material production to engineering to product design take time. If everyone suddenly turns to paper, this conversion will already fail due to availability, not to mention the price increase. And if the packaging processes do not run smoothly because they have not yet reached a level suitable for industry, then there will be more waste in the process chain. We need transitional periods in which the new solutions and processes can settle in. If we get them, then many things are feasible.

Do you have any questions? Lisa Raphaela Grübl, telephone 069 6603 1450, [email protected], will be happy to answer them.