Werner & Mertz Success Stories at 4Gamechanger Festival

Keynotes on Packaging Innovation, Circular Economy and Greenwashing

The annual 4Gamechanger Festival, which is dedicated to relevant futuristic topics, offered visionary managers a stage this year from 14 to 16 May. Sustainability pioneer Werner & Mertz was represented by three keynote speakers. CEO Reinhard Schneider spoke about how plastic can lose its horror; Packaging Expert Alexander Schau turned the audience into recycling heros; and Timothy Glaz, Head of Corporate Affairs, asked companies to stop greenwashing.

Werner & Mertz is known as an innovative market leader in detergents and cleaning products beyond the borders of Austria and Germany. The company counts on a climate-friendly circular economy aided by its Recyclate Initiative.

Reinhard Schneider, managing partner of the family-run Mainz company with an Austrian site in Hallein, impressively showed how plastic with the help of the circular economy can be freed from the horror that surrounds it. “It’s always a question of what we can do to make the world a little better. We follow a steady, continuous path in our research and development and have set milestones with our Recyclate Initiative. We put 100 percent recyclate from used plastic in our bottles and have developed—in cooperation with Mondi—a globally unique technology that allows us to make packaging with two flexible parts. Prior to shredding in recycling facilities, the parts can be separated easily and then completely recycled as required by the circular economy. Ideally, we would like to get major manufacturers to adopt this ‘open innovation’ technology as a new market standard and thereby make a positive contribution to environmental protection.”

At this point, Alexander Schau, Head of Packaging Development at Werner & Mertz, delivered two key messages to the audience. “For one thing, we have to keep plastic in the cycle and not produce any new plastic. For another, it’s important to reduce the amount of packaging material we use. A good example of that is our newly developed, 100 percent recyclable Frosch refill pouch. It is crucial that we all take personal responsibility because we want to leave our children a future worth living. To that end, we have to do something and become recycling heroes ourselves.”

Werner & Mertz, known as a pioneer in sustainable detergents and cleaning products, is actively engaged in explaining the subject of greenwashing to the general public. Timothy Glaz, Head of Corporate Affairs, made an urgent plea at the 4Gamechanger Festival for companies to cease greenwashing. In his presentation, he showed that many companies wrap themselves in green for marketing purposes only. “Unfortunately, companies want to give the impression that they are climate-neutral by simply purchasing a climate certificate. Of course, nothing is accomplished with the purchase alone. Be wary too of ‘sustainable’ products made from plastic recovered from the ocean. It is not possible to recycle marine plastic in keeping with a functioning circular economy.”