Foreword
Why we need plastic – and why we need to recycle it.

Light, resilient, leak-proof, hygienic – plastic as a packaging material offers decisive advantages. It is not without reason that it is the packaging material that holds together the flow of goods and value chains worldwide. This makes it all the more important to recognise it as a valuable raw material – and to keep it in the cycle as completely as possible.

How can we guarantee a safe and efficient supply for over eight billion people?

And at the same time ensure responsible use of energy, resources and the environment?

Plastic packaging will play a fundamental role here – if society changes its thinking: with a heightened awareness of the importance, but also the potential, of recycling. And with a differentiated, fact-based assessment of the sustainability of packaging.

Unrivalled plastic packaging functions with a sustainability factor

  • Protects products from damage and loss during transport
  • Extends shelf life
  • Secures flavour and aroma
  • Hygienic and physiologically harmless
  • Easy to use, more precise portioning and dosing
  • Reduces space and energy requirements during storage and transport
  • Provides orientation and creates brand recognition

Many advantages, low weight: the packaging material with more performance per kg

  • Lightweight
  • Impact-resistant and durable
  • Versatile, mouldable, flexible
  • High impermeability
  • Chemicals and temperature resistant
  • Technically efficient and resilient
  • As a mono-material packaging with low energy consumption, it can be recycled to a high standard.

Did you know?

40% of the harvest in developing countries is lost due to a lack of packaging.

Packaging consumption in tonnes would be 53% higher if plastic were replaced by other packaging materials wherever possible.

As early as 1991, Jokey launched the first bucket made of 100% recyclate – and helped develop the dual system in Germany.

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Our goal: a circular economy

Plastic becomes more sustainable the longer we actively use it in the value chain. To achieve this, a globally structured and conscious approach to waste and recycling is essential. As one of the largest manufacturers, we want to live up to our responsibility and have developed a guideline by which we measure ourselves and our packaging: the Jokey Eco Concept.

Eco Company
The sustainability of a packaging begins with the company that produces it.

As a family business, we think long-term. Our future strategy is based on three pillars: healthy growth, ecological action and social responsibility. In view of the advancing climate change and the overloading of the planetary boundaries with regard to the consumption of resources, we have significantly increased our sustainability activities in recent years. Jokey’s 2030 sustainability roadmap includes a comprehensive transformation process that has been initiated in all areas of the company. To help us navigate this path of change, our vision and mission serve as a compass of values to guide us.

Our Vision

Jokey is in harmony with people and the environment and is a pioneer in innovative and sustainable product solutions.

Our Mission

We place sustainability at the centre of our daily activities and provide pioneering impetus along the entire value chain.

At Jokey, sustainability in practice ranges from large-scale investments in efficient and resource-saving technologies to the many small opportunities for saving energy and materials in our day-to-day work.

Our package of measures

  • Continuous renewal process in energy-efficient production and processes
  • Circular product development according to the internal guidelines Jokey Eco Design
  • Recycling of internal waste heat sources for energy generation
  • CO2 emission reduction programmes based on our SBTi Commitment
  • Continuous investments in building and machine technology
  • Energy generation with our own photovoltaic systems for energy generation
  • Certification according to the energy efficiency standard DIN ISO 50001:2011
  • Environmental management certification according to DIN ISO 14001 group-wide by the end of 2024
  • BRC Global Standard Packaging and Packaging Materials
  • Food Safety Management System ISO 22000:2005
  • Zero Granulate Loss Initiative
  • SMETA 4-pillar certifications and orientation towards our Global Compact Commitment
  • Development and expansion of our own take-back systems for used packaging
  • Development of a programme for a take-back system for used food packaging

Our strength: our customers and partners

Longstanding and close exchange with our customers, partners and stakeholders is an important source of innovative ideas for us: from cooperation in the development of new markets and the associated ongoing dialogue, we also gain many valuable suggestions and impulses on the topic of sustainability.

We have set the course for the future.

In line with our climate strategy, we are continuously investing in resource-conserving and energy-efficient technologies at all our locations. Our solid financial policy provides us with a secure foundation and the freedom to act independently of short-term economic interests.

CO2 Roadmap 2030
Our goal is to develop a maximum CO2 reduction path as a company.

We have committed to science-based climate targets validated by the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi). We are striving to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions along a 1.5°C pathway and aim to reduce them by 42% in all three scopes by 2030. This requires measures along the entire value chain. This starts with our suppliers and ends with the recycling of our products after use, when the packaging returns to the raw materials cycle. This is a challenge for all players along the value chain. And that is why we are all working together to find more and more ways to save CO2. Less material, more efficiency, switching to green energy, generating our own energy – every single step counts.

360° responsibility
Maximum circularity. From procurement to recycling.

Our examination of climate and resources with regard to our products also includes a look at the upstream and downstream value chain. This is because our responsibility begins with procurement and thus with our supply chain. In our collaboration with our suppliers, we use every lever at our disposal to procure circular goods and avoid significant negative impacts on the environment and people. In our own production processes and infrastructures, we are pursuing a zero-waste strategy by 2030. All procured products are either fully recycled or sent to an external recycling facility.

Actively closing loops. By 2030, we want to be as circular as possible.

But our responsibility does not end where Jokey packaging leaves the plant. We are actively committed to ensuring that it also returns to the recycling cycle. To this end, we are in constant, open dialogue with customers, partners, associations and NGOs. Together, we are actively committed to closing loops.

We want to be a driving force. With measures to promote a circular economy.

We contribute our expertise wherever sustainability and a circular economy can be shaped. At the beginning of the 1990s, we were already actively involved in the development of waste infrastructures as part of the German Packaging Ordinance. Today, we are committed to the global advancement of a circular economy and the protection of our shared environment.

Cooperation at all levels – and across all borders

Among other things, we work together with an international network of multi-stakeholder initiatives. We are convinced that only through cross-border cooperation between all responsible players from industry, trade, politics and civil society can a consistent change of direction take place.

Digitalisation of product
Digital packaging is perfectly integrated into the value chain.

Digital packaging provides information that goes beyond mere printing and is no longer aimed solely at end consumers. For example, the digital product passport (DPP) uses a QR code to provide relevant information and data, such as on the manufacturer, origin, material, filling, recyclability and environmental impact. Material flows can thus be identified in the recycling process, sorted more effectively and transferred to the recycling loops. The result is high-quality recyclates. We are gradually preparing our packaging for these processes. Whether it’s a QR code or a water mark, we are continuously driving forward the digitalisation of our packaging. This is a prerequisite for a transparent value chain and for a functioning circular economy for plastics.

Operations and logistics
Effiziente Betriebs- und Logistikprozesse sparen Ressourcen und CO2-Emissionen.

The Jokey plants are becoming increasingly interconnected in order to make operational processes more efficient and sustainable. Digital tools also help us to do this. Our sustainability strategy sets out the goals that we are continuously working towards. We want to save more and more energy and resources – along the entire value chain. Many small approaches along the path from production to delivery of Jokey products could further accelerate processes and make them even more sustainable. In order to realise this potential, all stakeholders need to join forces and plan and act with foresight within a sustainable framework.

Communication and data exchange
Communicating and producing in a digitally networked world.

Digitalisation and artificial intelligence are megatrends. They are changing many processes – and also setting new standards in the value chain. In future, Jokey will also be increasingly involved in the exchange of large volumes of data. It is therefore important to set up the interfaces for this at an early stage and to realise the potential now. This is the only way to optimise data exchange and secure long-term access to the markets.

Security and data protection
Protected data improves digital sustainability.

Increasing data exchange, ever larger data volumes, extensive networking: all this makes systems more susceptible to disruptions or even cyber attacks. Data security therefore plays an important role. We are already continuously investing in the protection of our systems and have established an internal security management system. This is constantly being developed further, as are Group-wide measures such as awareness training, firewall systems, backup strategies and emergency plans in a highly structured internal and external security management system, which is also certified in accordance with ISO 27001. We do everything we can to avoid outages and remain able to deliver for our customers – at all times and under all circumstances.

New plastics for food packaging and a global circular economy
For longer shelf life, even for food.

Jokey packaging for food contact is produced under the high hygiene regulations of the GFSI standard. In addition, we only use raw materials that meet the legal requirements and can be recycled to a high standard. We rely on the plastic polypropylene (PP) because it can be collected and recycled worldwide. This is only the case with a few polymers. This means that even a container manufactured in the EU can be collected and recycled wherever there are collection and recycling systems – regardless of the continent.

Nothing is more sustainable than a yoghurt that lasts until it is eaten.

Our plastic packaging ensures hygiene and quality and reliably protects its contents from spoilage and damage – over thousands of kilometres. Extending the shelf life with plastic packaging is particularly economical, saves valuable resources and protects the climate.

Recycled packaging in the food sector

Recycled packaging made from mechanically recycled polypropylene can currently only be used for non-food applications. This is because it does not meet the strict legal criteria for food contact in the European Union (EFSA). We are currently exploring solutions such as closed loops in research projects. In 2022, we launched a scientifically monitored project to test the possible uses of recycled polypropylene (rPP) in food quality. In this project, a customised collection system is used to collect plastic packaging from commercial customers after it has been used up in a scientific environment for material recycling. The recyclates obtained are then analysed in detail. The results of the large-scale tests conducted so far are promising, even though there is still a long way to go before possible approval by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). By contrast, recyclates from chemical recycling are already available for food packaging and are used in an ISCC-certified mass balance process.

Physiologically harmless

Packaging intended for food contact is made exclusively from raw materials that meet the requirements of Regulation (EC) No. 1935/2004 (in particular Article 3) and Regulation (EU) No. 10/2011. The safety of the raw materials and thus compliance with the relevant regulations is verified under the most unfavourable foreseeable conditions of use in an accredited laboratory.

Secondary raw materials
The best packaging used to be packaging.

Paints, building materials, chemicals and other non-food products are just as well and safely packaged in our packaging made from post-consumer recyclates as they are in new plastics. High functionality thus meets an ecologically valuable contribution to resource conservation – with many design options, from colour to in-mould labelling. Depending on the formulation and the proportion of recyclates used, up to 50% CO2 can be saved with recyclate packaging.

An idea ahead of its time

Jokey has been manufacturing packaging for the non-food industry from recycled plastics for many years. The post-consumer recyclates (PCR) come from household and commercial collections. Our grey recyclate bucket made its debut as early as 1991. However, it did not achieve a breakthrough at that time. Nevertheless, as one of the pioneers, we continued to focus consistently on secondary raw materials.

The well-deserved comeback of the recycling container

Fortunately, attitudes towards recyclates have changed: today, environmentally conscious end consumers primarily want sustainable packaging. For fillers, not only is an ecologically valuable contribution to resource protection important, but also a high degree of functionality and elegant design. Our recyclate containers combine both.

Colourful packaging design

Jokey recyclate packaging can only be distinguished from packaging made of new plastics by its grey base colour. They offer the same product protection and appear just as “new” to the end consumer. They can also be attractively finished using all the options offered by the in-mould labelling process.

Our vision: recyclate packaging as standard in the non-food sector

We are sending a clear signal with the introduction of the RAL quality mark for recycled plastic and our recyclate campaign “Grey is the new Green”. Because one thing is clear: a sustainable circular economy can only be achieved by recovering and reusing existing raw materials.

Closed loops to improve waste streams

Together with selected partners, we are working on the development of closed loops and offering these to our customers in Germany. We would like to use this model to develop and offer closed loop systems for non-food packaging in other global regions in the future. We obtain high-quality recyclates from the collection and subsequent recycling of used packaging buckets from the commercial sector. These recyclates are added to virgin materials in our plants to produce new buckets.

Raw materials from mechanical and chemical recycling

By 2030, we want to produce non-food packaging almost entirely from secondary raw materials from commercial and household collections instead of from new plastics. We will primarily be relying on recyclates from mechanical recycling processes. Recyclates from chemical recycling processes could, in the long term, lead to circular product solutions, particularly in the food sector. We have also launched pilot projects with partners in this area. For example, we use recyclates that are ISCC-certified in the mass balance process. These meet the strict quality requirements and hygiene standards for food packaging.

Renewable raw materials
Renewable raw materials: a challenge.

Since 2010, we have been working on replacing conventional polymers with biogenic raw materials. Renewable raw materials could be the key to a defossilised world of resources. However, they must be handled with care given the quantities required. Not everything that grows back is ecologically beneficial. However, we remain open to the possible use of biogenic raw materials, even though we have not yet found any polymers from renewable sources that meet the quality requirements for our purposes. For this reason, we have joined innovative networks that aim to explore and develop natural polymers and other alternative raw materials. In WWF Germany, we also have a critical NGO at our side with which we exchange ideas on new approaches and their ecological or social compatibility.

Which biopolymer is truly sustainable?

Only a holistic view of plastics made from renewable raw materials can show whether they are truly environmentally friendly. It should also be noted that a complete supplementation of fossil polymers with biogenic raw materials would result in a gigantic demand. However, the expansion of cultivation areas for bio-based plastics, such as those made from sugar cane or corn, also creates huge monocultures, resulting in the loss of natural habitats, species extinction, water scarcity, desertification and the use of hazardous pesticides.

Processing, performance and recycling

In order to be used in our production, biopolymers must meet further requirements beyond ecological certification – our technical standards as well as those of modern, high-performance packaging and subsequent complete recycling.

Strict certification criteria for true sustainability

That is why we take a critical look at these raw materials and their life cycle assessments in terms of their impact on the climate and biodiversity. And Jokey will only use raw materials from renewable sources that can provide internationally recognised certificates of origin and composition.

Packaging efficiency
Up to 40% less material used since 1990

Our research and development has been driven by the goal of packing as much product as possible into as little material as possible since the early 1990s. And we have been successful: We have reduced the weight of our packaging by up to 40% through the use of designs that are both more efficient and more functional.

The art of ultra-light engineering

Over time, we have been able to significantly reduce the amount of material required through increasingly sophisticated designs. At the same time, we have succeeded in significantly increasing functionality: our containers are now more stable, break-resistant, user-friendly and attractive – and thus meet the increased demands of our customers.

Less weight, fewer resources

Thanks to their lower weight, Jokey packaging reduces the ecological footprint: This is because they consume less plastic during production. And in terms of logistics and transport, they improve the ratio of packaging weight to filling weight – thus reducing energy consumption and unnecessary CO2 emissions. In addition, the weight and volume of Jokey packaging are precisely tailored to the contents and their handling. After all, less packaging means less material consumption and less packaging waste – which is entirely in line with the new European Packaging Regulation. Together with high-quality recyclability, this also leads to better resource efficiency.

High-quality technical recyclability
Only homogeneous packaging materials achieve an optimal recycling result.

That is why we only use plastics and decorations that lead to high-quality recycling results. Jokey packaging is thus fully recyclable and can be reused as recyclates without any technical loss of quality. In order to obtain high-quality recyclates, we also use the possibilities of digital labelling on our packaging, such as the digital product passport (DPP). The marking can be used, for example, to access recycling-relevant properties and contents of the packaging. This makes it easier to identify and sort material flows in the recycling process. The documented and always retrievable information ensures transparency in the value chain and creates an important prerequisite for a functioning plastic recycling economy.

Perceived vs. real sustainability

Multi-component packaging often appears sustainable, but it harbours a problem: it must be disassembled into its component parts by the consumer before recycling in order to be recyclable – which rarely happens in practice. Jokey packaging has therefore been designed to be material-homogeneous for decades: this means that it is fully recyclable even without component separation. Only minor material losses occur for technical reasons.

Single material for high-quality recycling

Jokey packaging is made of polyolefins, primarily polypropylene. These are highly suitable for material recycling. With regard to the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), they achieve the highest classification of recyclability. And not only that: Jokey packaging is fully recyclable and thus remains in the material cycle as a raw material for new packaging.

Complete emptying
This is how sustainable a cleanly emptied packaging is.

All Jokey packaging allows complete access to the contents thanks to the removable lid. This ensures consumer protection and also simplifies the recycling process: residual contents in recycling lead to high additional technical costs and unnecessarily consume resources.

0% residual content, 100% consumer protection

Jokey packaging is designed for efficient and easy handling to facilitate access to the product. Consumers can use and consume it down to the last gram. This enables manufacturers to meet all consumer protection requirements.

Less energy required for recycling

Packaging that is completely empty also simplifies the recycling process – because residual contents lead to more waste and higher technical costs, and can even make recycling impossible. By contrast, packaging that is completely empty saves costs and energy, increases the recycling rate and improves the quality of the recyclate.

Maximum packaging benefits
The durability of plastic enables many life cycles.

Jokey packaging is designed for efficient and easy handling to facilitate access to the product. Consumers can use and consume it down to the last gram. This enables manufacturers to meet all consumer protection requirements.

Less energy required for recycling

Packaging that is empty of residues also simplifies the recycling process – because residual contents lead to more waste and a high technical overhead, and even to non-recyclability. By contrast, packaging that is empty of residues saves costs and energy, increases the recycling rate and improves the quality of the recyclate.

Our new reusable service packaging division is here.

In 2023, we expanded our portfolio to include reusable service packaging. With our own brand KeepIn, we offer service packaging that has been specifically developed for the technical features of reusable packaging. The product range includes reusable coffee cups, cups for cold drinks, bowls and a tray in food service – in restaurants, canteens and in the to-go sector.

Each product is the result of years of research and development.

Growing mobility, changing eating habits: to-go offers are very much in vogue. At the same time, environmental awareness and demands for sustainable packaging have risen sharply. Our service packaging provides the right answers to both. To actively promote reusable models, a reusable packaging requirement has been in force in Germany since the beginning of 2023 for certain providers. Our range meets these legal requirements.

Reusable packaging protects the environment and the climate.

The ecological benefit of reusable containers increases with each use. They conserve resources, protect the climate and help to avoid waste. However, reusability is also a question of the system. In addition to the technical requirements for a to-go packaging, logistical services such as distribution, sorting, cleaning and re-provision in production quality with as many cycles as possible must also be ensured. To this end, we have entered into strategic partnerships with various start-up companies that specialise in setting up and expanding reusable systems in the to-go sector.

Second use: endless possibilities for reuse

Jokey buckets are robust, can be completely emptied and reliably resealed. Even after their first life as packaging, they remain multifunctional and can be used for a wide range of tasks. At the same time, they remain fully recyclable at all times. And they help your brand to attract lasting attention.

Quality that people like to use. And use. And use.

The longer packaging is actively used in the value chain, the more sustainable it becomes. This is why we have been using targeted closed loops since the 1990s – for example, to recycle our pails from the dairy industry in our own closed loops. Jokey packaging is not only ideally suited for this purpose due to its recyclability, but also thanks to its durable and functional design. Whether in the household, at work or in hobbies, the secondary use offers attractive added value thanks to its versatility.