Sustainability Report 2016 / 2017

23 Initiative Frosch Other Goals of the Recyclate Initiative The Cradle-to-Cradle ® principle, which calls for the return of a pro- duct’s components to a closed technical or biological cycle, requires the recyclability of the packaging’s components. Werner & Mertz has committed to following this principle. In other projects, harmless ingredients are replacing critical substances in pigments (master- batch) for bottle caps and developers are working on a recyclable label solution. The challenge lies in developing a label which pro- vides the consumer with all required information and remains on the packaging while the detergent is in use, but can be completely removed in the hot wash during recycling of PET flakes so that it cannot contaminate the reusable material flow. “A plastic flake is valuable to the recycling process when the label adhesive and the entire label can be completely washed off,” explains Immo Sander, Head of Packaging Development at Werner & Mertz. “The economi- cal efficiency of all plastic recyclates can be improved significantly when the yield from the raw material source Yellow Bag increases.” The more easily a label can be removed after use and before recycling, the better the chances of realizing a genuine closed technical cycle.