Sustainability at Wacker

Acting sustainably plays a bigger role these days than ever before. For us, sustainable business is not just a marketing campaign, but a lived reality: we are constantly thinking about how we can make our products and our company as environmentally friendly as possible, and we take a variety of approaches.

Our products: Naturally organic

Not only from the health aspect for us, but also for the environment, organic is simply better. That is why all our products are certified organic according to the European standard. Among other things, organic fertilisers and the observance of a proper crop rotation protect and maintain the soil, and waters are also protected, as chemical fertilisers and pesticides are not used.

Climate neutrality

Production, packaging, delivery - all of these cause emissions. We work to reduce our emissions at every step of our value chain - but some emissions simply cannot be avoided. That's why we offset these unavoidable emissions together with ClimatePartner and invest in forest protection projects in Brazil and Papua New Guinea. This is how it works: Every year we calculate all the CO2 emissions we cause, starting with our office space, warehouse, energy consumption, logistics, travel and ending with our products, their raw materials, packaging and manufacturing. In addition, a safety margin of 20% is added on top. Sounds a bit complicated - and it is. But it is worth it. Because that's how we know that in 2020 we will have emitted a total of about 118 tonnes of CO2. The projects we support not only reforest the rainforest, they also invest in education and healthcare for the local people.

Shipping

Our orders must be carefully and securely packed so that our products reach you in one piece. This requires a cardboard box. Since we receive different goods and raw materials every day, we end up with a lot of boxes. Some are already very worn out and have to be disposed of - others, however, are still fully usable. It would be a shame not to use these boxes because of a few tape remnants, inscriptions or small scratches.

So before we even use a new box, we pack your order in a box that has already been used, thus conserving resources - provided, of course, that the box is still strong enough for further transport. If your box doesn't look brand new, you'll see a sticker indicating that it's a reused box. When all reusable boxes are used up, we only use new boxes made from 100% recycled paper, so no trees have to be cut down to make our boxes. 

Recycled packaging material without plastic

Some of our products are in jars - and they need to be well padded so that they don't break during transport. That's why we need filling material. Instead of bubble wrap, we use recycled paper, which has even been awarded the "Blue Angel" seal. Our adhesive tape is also plastic-free: We only use paper tape with natural rubber adhesive. This means that you can dispose of the entire box in the paper waste, unless you find another use for it, and it can be completely recycled.

The shipping of products causes the largest share of emissions in online retail. We ship with DHL GoGreen, the climate-neutral shipping service of the transport market leader DHL. Thus, all emissions caused by parcel shipping are offset and neutralised by supporting climate projects. In addition, DHL is increasingly switching to electric vehicles; the Group even already has a specially developed electric delivery van in use.

Green electricity

Small effort, big effect: switching to green electricity. Our offices and warehouses are 100% supplied with green electricity.

We are constantly looking for further optimisation potential to make our company and our processes even more sustainable. Therefore, these measures will certainly not be the last ones we implement 🙂

Image Field: Adobe Stock, ValentinValkov, #249924543