The EDEKA reusable freezer bag made from recycled material has won the German Packaging Award 2021 in the sustainability category. The winners have now been announced by the German Packaging Institute (Deutsches Verpackungsinstitut e.V.) and the award ceremony will take place in September.
Not only is the body of the bag made from over 80 per cent recycled material, but the handle is made from recycled material from the lids of PET beverage bottles that have been collected by EDEKA. „EDEKA sees this award as confirmation of its packaging strategy: The focus here is on avoidance, optimisation, reusability and recycling. We are being advised by the WWF as a partner for sustainability,“ says Rolf Lange, Head of Corporate Communications at EDEKA headquarters.
The award was preceded by a long period of joint development work with the manufacturer Riba Verpackungen GmbH. At the end of 2015, EDEKA launched the first freezer carrier bag made from recycled material on the market: Recycled material was already used for the body, but virgin material still had to be used for the handle - the heaviest part of the reusable bag in terms of weight - due to the necessary stability. In 2019, the handle was also converted to stable recyclate, meaning that the bag has since met the requirements for the Blue Angel. In January 2021, the company succeeded - probably also for the first time in the industry - in using recycled material from its own bottle caps for the handle. The lids of the PET beverage bottles returned to EDEKA by consumers thus go into an actual recycling cycle according to the motto: „...a part of me was already with you“.
Source: EDEKA
