Sustainability at Kesseböhmer - our approach

Sustainability in production - almost three-quarters of the production material comes from Germany

To manufacture our products, we need wood, metals, plastics, chemicals and electronics. 98 percent of our suppliers for production material are based in a member state of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and 70 percent of our production material comes from Germany. This ensures transport distances are kept as short as possible and quality is high. We also consistently carry out supplier assessments to ensure our high requirements are being met, for example through supplier monitoring in the field of Automotive in accordance with IATF 16949.

Use of alternative materials

Where possible, we source raw materials from sustainable sources. Take wood, for example: we procure it from certified forestry, among other sources. We try to replace solid wood. With "OrganiQ", we have developed a future-oriented composite material that consists of 68 percent rapidly renewable plant fibers such as hemp and kenaf and 25 percent sustainable water-based binder.

Avoiding critical substances

When processing raw materials, we check legal requirements for the avoidance of critical substances in accordance with the REACH, RoHS and WEEE directives and comply with additional customer requirements.

Moulded pulp, corrugated cardboard or honeycomb panel replace Styrofoam packaging

We’re Pregis-certified. We rely on recyclable material for our packaging. For large customers we use reusable packaging. We’re constantly developing new package solutions that use less resources and are recyclable. For example, we’ve completely replaced Styrofoam with moulded pulp, corrugated cardboard or honeycomb panel. This allows us to continually save 80 tons or 3200 cubic metres of Styrofoam annually. We’re replacing PE foam foil, plastic films and bags with paper.