Current Record: Werner & Mertz wins WorldStar Packaging Award twice!

Another pioneering achievement: Mainz family company receives awards for its stand-up pouch made of recyclate and its innovative dosing system

A first for Werner & Mertz: The Mainz cleaning products company scored two victories in the internationally renowned WorldStar Packaging Award. With both award-winning innovations, the sustainability pioneer demonstrated its full range of packaging skills. Working with cooperation partner Mondi in its Recyclate Initiative, the company developed a completely recyclable stand-up pouch, the first to contain post-consumer recyclate from the Yellow Bag. The second award was granted for the innovative dosing system Switch, which packaging experts at Werner & Mertz developed with cooperation partner Teamplast B.V.

The 48-member jury for the international competition run by the World Packaging Organization (WPO) selected the winners in 19 categories from 481 submissions from 36 countries. Among them were the stand-up pouch and the dosing system Switch, both of which received the WorldStar Packaging Award 2026 in the “Household” category. The official awards ceremony will take place during the trade show Interpack in Düsseldorf on 8 May 2026.

“Winning the WorldStar Packaging Award twice in one year — that’s a new record for us! We are especially pleased that we received the award for two different technologies, that is, the use of recyclate combined with refilling option (B2C and B2B) and an innovative dosing system  (B2B). With these two, we show how we are advancing sustainability across the board in current packaging developments,” says Werner & Mertz owner Reinhard Schneider.

The continuing innovative development of the stand-up pouch is an important step toward a functioning circular economy. Some years ago Werner & Mertz and Mondi put the first completely recyclable stand-up pouch of monomaterial on the market. It contains 70% less plastic  compared to a bottle with the same volume. By integrating recyclate in the pouch, the company sets new standards for the entire sector. For the first time, PCR (a total of 27% of the packaging) from household waste collection (Yellow Bag) could be incorporated in a stand-up pouch for liquid products without making any compromises in stability, workability during extrusion, assembly or sealing. The previous reduction in plastic achieved by refilling the original container with the product has now been supplemented by a reduction in virgin plastic. The use of recyclate conserves valuable resources and significantly reduces the carbon footprint.

The innovative Switch System combines safe, efficient dosing that requires no additional equipment with the benefits of sustainable and reasonably priced refilling. The unique design of bottle and clever dosing mechanism with related refill pouch represents a complete and  revolutionary solution for the entire professional cleaning sector. All components in the system effectively contribute to the circular economy and set new standards for 100 percent recyclability and waste minimization. Ultra-concentrated formulations that satisfy the highest sustainability requirements are available for four different application areas. Because the bottle and the dosing mechanism are made 100% of recycled plastic, they are completely recyclable. The integrated dosing mechanism eliminates the interim step of manual measuring and prevents potential direct contact between cleaning personnel and the cleaning products. Users benefit from minimizing the danger of overdosing. No additional expenses are incurred for separate dosing accessories. Thanks to the integrated dosing mechanism and intuitive use, the cleaning process can be made more efficient. Within a short time cleaning personnel understand how to use the dosing aid and which direction to move the lever for the desired action. Users are familiar with the refilling process with the recyclable monomaterial pouch from experience at home, so training effort and costs can be reduced.

With the double victory in the WorldStar Packaging Award, the company underscores its pioneering role in sustainable packaging and once again sets an ecological benchmark.