Product benefit and designs
Thinking and acting sustainably

The issue of plastic is complex, and the negative impacts – actual or potential – must also be considered. The social discourse focuses in particular on water and nature pollution through plastic waste, as well as on the finite nature of the petrochemical resource. It is estimated that around 40 percent of the world’s plastic waste ends up in the environment, where it affects flora and fauna for centuries to come. Once in nature, smaller and smaller micro plastic particles are formed, which are ingested by plants and animals and can affect their organisms. We humans also suffer directly from the consequences of littering, for example through tourism or accumulation along the food chain. One reason for plastic waste in the environment is the lack of structures for collecting and further processing the waste. According to a study by OECD, poor waste management is responsible for 82 percent of plastic entering the environment. In emerging and developing countries, significantly less than 50 percent of the waste is collected, and in many rural regions even less. Many people in these countries cannot dispose of their waste properly, the infrastructure for this is simply lacking.

Germany has such structures. The input-based recycling rate for plastic packaging in the German dual systems was 65.5 percent in 2021. This corresponds to an increase of 5 percent compared to the previous year. The remainder is still mainly used thermally (see Figures, Data, Facts of the Stiftung Zentrale Stelle Verpackungsregister).

In addition to resource, natural and environmental influences, we also keep an eye on the potential social impact of our products. Because they come into contact with people, both through direct exposure to the packaging and through contact with the corresponding contents, as is particularly the case with food. Protecting human health is therefore the top priority (see “Food packaging – health and safety”).

Positive and negative influences show the need to take a differentiated look at plastic packaging. In the social debate, plastics are often referred to as the core of environmental problems. From our point of view, however, this description does not do justice to the plastic material with its positive, high-performance characteristics. Of course, plastic packaging, just like packaging made of other materials, does not belong in the environment or in the oceans after use. At the same time, packaging must be designed for high-quality recyclability right from the start, regardless of the packaging material. Everyone along the entire value chain is responsible here.

We use our many years of expertise to ensure that packaging returns to the material cycle. For this purpose, status quo analyses of collection and waste management systems are carried out in countries in which Jokey is active. We also identify potential for promoting recycling economy. Within the industry, we also try to stimulate a differentiated discussion with factual arguments and reliable facts about the responsible use of plastic packaging. We play an active role in relevant initiatives and committees.

The world is faced with the challenge of ensuring that soon eight billion people will be supplied with food safely and efficiently, using available resources responsibly and respecting planetary limits. Plastic packaging can support the responsible use of available resources, because it reliably ensures that filling goods arrive at their destination safely and undamaged with little use of materials – and this over long distances with high mechanical and product-related requirements.

Safe protection of filling goods is particularly relevant from an ecological point of view. Because the loss of a packaging unit, for example due to damage, also means loss of the contents it contains – with all the associated effects on the environment. Renewed production, bottling and delivery also consume resources and are associated with burdens such as greenhouse gas emission. Plastic packaging therefore bears an extremely important ecological and economic responsibility for our society.

“Plastic packaging packs 63.2 percent of all contents,
but only accounts for 23.7 percent of the total packaging tonnage.”

Hardly any other material is able to efficiently meet the complex requirements of packaging like plastic.

For more than 30 years we have been consistently developing our products on many levels of sustainability. We are involved in many areas in order to avoid negative influences on the environment and counteract them actively.

Our research and development department works Group-wide to support effective recyclability – from avoidance to reuse, using recyclates and recycling. The Jokey Eco Concept contains our strategy for continuously improving the sustainability performance of our products and defines goals for this.

One of the main goals is the absolute saving of material. In order to meet the technical requirements of our customers in terms of functionality, stability and user-friendliness, we produce packaging with different geometric properties in different weight categories. Since 1990, our developers have been able to reduce the operating weight by up to 40 percent. In addition, we want to save up to 15 percent of the absolute use of materials by 2030. Thin-walled packaging uses fewer raw materials and reduces the ecological footprint in logistics and transport.

In the medium term we want to discontinue product solutions that do not make ecological sense. New reusable products for the to-go sector will be launched on the market in 2023. We want to increase the share of sales from reusable packaging by 5 percent by 2030.

In addition, Jokey is developing closed loops in the food and non-food sectors together with selected partners. In 2022 we created a Jokey Eco-Design guideline for packaging. It will be implemented step by step throughout the Jokey Group.

All products are up to 100 percent technically recyclable. In 2023 we want to use international screening to determine possible approaches to extended manufacturer responsibility (EPR) in countries where the Jokey plants are located.

As early as 2014, we got involved in the Round Table Eco Design to develop guidelines for recycling plastic packaging. In addition to the focus on design, a variety of measures for sustainable product development are firmly anchored in the Jokey Eco Concept. Topics such as complete emptying, safe protection of the filling and longevity are not only central to maximizing consumer benefits. They also play a central role from the point of view of sustainability.

“Packaging must be highly efficient,
provide maximum benefit and be fully
recyclable around the world.”

We want to offer our customers products that meet their needs and are as sustainable as possible. Therefore, we are open to all materials that enable a fact-based substitution of fossil-based raw materials from a technical, ecological and economic point of view. For this reason, our developers continuously analyze a wide variety of alternatives. With polypropylene, we are currently using a plastic that can be produced, processed and recycled with little energy. In addition, it is versatile and, from today’s perspective, performs better than alternative packaging materials in terms of stability, protection and durability of filling goods and ecological balances. The question of the ideal packaging also includes the question: Where can packaging material be avoided, saved, optimized? Our Eco Design, according to the guidelines of which all Jokey food packaging is developed and manufactured from new plastics, therefore aims to keep simplifying packaging without causing any disadvantages in use. This also optimizes the subsequent recycling process.

All Jokey packaging is equipped with a lid that allows full access to the contents when opened. In this way, the product can be used up to the last gram. And the design simplifies the subsequent recycling process. This is because residual filling goods in the recycling process lead to additional technical work, material losses and higher costs. The longevity of plastic has many advantages. Jokey buckets, for example, are often used as containers in households and businesses after their original contents have been used. Even after the second phase of use, our packaging products can be completely recycled again.

Mono-material packaging simplifies the recycling economy. Jokey packaging is only made from one plastic material. We almost exclusively use polypropylene (PP) for this purpose. Other materials such as polyethylene (PE) are only used occasionally for special products and also in the mono-material process. Handles and labels used are also made of PP and, as a packaging unit, provide a homogeneous material mass that does not have to be further separated and sorted and is therefore ideally suited for the later recycling process. At the customer’s request, individual packaging is still made with metal handles, but these can be sorted out and recycled in a modern recycling plant.

Health assessment of food contact materials or materials intended for food contact is less complex. For producing Jokey packaging in the food sector, we only use raw materials and additives that meet the requirements of Regulation (EU) No. 10/2011 and the legal provisions of Regulation (EC) No. 1935/2004 and are checked by accredited laboratories.

Regulation (EC) No. 1935/2004 and the individual measure Regulation (EU) No. 10/2011 derived from it stipulate special rules for materials and objects made of plastic intended to come into contact with food.

(Annex I of Regulation (EU) No. 10/2011 or the Union list contains the permitted substances that may be used intentionally in manufacturing plastics (see Regulation (EU) No. 10/2011 (17) – page L 12/3).

In addition, the regulation contains clear rules for supply chain communication and health assessment of materials. With the help of the declaration of conformity, information relevant to health assessment is communicated to downstream levels. As a manufacturer of food packaging, we are required to request the declaration of conformity from our suppliers and carry out migration tests on the end product. So-called worst-case calculations are also used. In addition to the substances regulated in the Union list, plastic materials and objects can also “[…] contain impurities resulting from their manufacturing or extracting processes. These impurities are non-intentionally added substance (NIAS) during the manufacture of the plastic material along with the substance.” (See Regulation (EU) No. 10/2011 (18) – page L 12/3.)

Jokey assesses this contamination as part of risk assessment. The “Migratox” project is important to us. We have joined this to support the development of sustainable and cost-effective methods.

In addition to plastics, Jokey also uses printing inks to decorate the buckets. A European regulation of the kind that exists for plastics has not yet been established in this form. For this reason, we fall back on the Swiss Printing Ink Ordinance. Like Regulation (EU) No. 10/2011, this contains a positive list in which the permitted substances for producing printing inks are listed. In addition, we use the EuPIA Guideline to evaluate printing inks.

We are not aware of any violations of regulations related to the health and safety effects of our products during the reporting period.

We are aware that our products come into direct contact with food and are therefore part of the food chain. For this reason, we have strict hygiene regulations; precise specifications for order, environmental protection and cleanliness in the workplace and compliance with legal requirements. An effective standard for hygiene management, certified by recognized external institutions as well as a certified HACCP system, ensure the harmlessness of our processes, products and food safety at all times.

With a view to our responsibility towards end consumers who use our plastic packaging, we implement the highest health protection requirements. In general, food contact materials placed on the EU market must not release any components into the food that could endanger human health and alter the food. For plastic products, it is clearly regulated which substances may be used for producing plastic materials that come into contact with food and how compliance is checked. This regulation is regularly revised in the course of new scientific findings and is therefore subject to a constant change process. Depending on the ingredients, plastics are evaluated differently. All Jokey packaging made from new plastics meets the high food safety standards of the FDA and EFSA and is physiologically harmless.

9 of the 15 Jokey locations are BRCGS certified. The BRCGS (Brand Reputation through Compliance Global Standard) has developed uniform standards that focus on product quality, product safety and legality. Edition 6 of the standard also emphasizes the relevance of product quality. Our BRCGS 6 certification shows customers that our companies work according to a globally recognized quality standard for packaging. The standard aims to implement effective systems and procedures to ensure the quality of food and non-food packaging. All of the additives we use go through strict quality assurance. Materials intended for food contact are tested in an accredited laboratory regarding compliance with legal regulations. Only when this is confirmed do we use the materials in our production.

Above all, evaluating mechanical recyclates is difficult due to their composition. They come from household, commercial and industrial collections, i.e. from used packaging that is returned to private or commercial end users for recycling after use. A variety of filling goods and materials creates a mixture of substances that can only be traced to a very limited extent. If we compare the recyclate qualities from the early 1990s with today’s offers, clear progress can already be seen. Currently, recyclates can be safely used in specified recipes for the large area of non-food applications.

With a view to a comprehensive recycling economy, recyclate qualities must become traceable and identifiable in the near future. To do this, they must increasingly improve in quality before they can be used again for food and contact-sensitive filling goods.

To improve material quality as soon as possible, we are working together with a wide variety of partners and scientific support on innovative project approaches. In addition, the project contributes to developing post-consumer food contact materials. In the future, applications for large quantities of packaging/products that have already been used could be found. Knowledge of entry routes is essential for physiologically assessing post-consumer materials.

When communicating with our customers and stakeholders, we follow the principle of appreciative honesty (see “Jokey Values”): We communicate openly, honestly and transparently. There were no violations of regulations related to product and service information and labeling during the reporting period. We also deal with critical questions or points of view. Because on the one hand we see this as an incentive to become even better, and on the other hand we want to take our employees as well as our customers and stakeholders with us on the path to our sustainability strategy and show ourselves as a trustworthy partner.

Personal care and advice

Our sales department, both the field service and Jokey customer service, look after our customers to a large extent. Detailed consultations usually precede written offers. As a customer-oriented family company, personal support and exchange are a matter of course at Jokey.

Information material

Detailed information about the company, our products and our sustainability activities is available to our customers and interested parties at any time on our website. These include e.g. technical data sheets, technical guidelines, product samples, certificates and product brochures.

Jokey Road Show – our mobile information center

As an additional service, we offer the Jokey Road Show (Jokey 2 You), which is used for promotional purposes as well as seminars, training courses and consultations. Here, our experts provide targeted information on specialist topics and Jokey products and answer individual questions. In addition to product innovations and trends, mobile events also include sustainability topics such as the Jokey Eco Concept.

On-site technical service

Our technical service, which supports our customers on site, has also established itself. It supports customers in the safe handling of our products, for example in filling, stacking and logistics processes.