CERATIZIT packaging – safe and sound!
Sustainable protection for high-quality cutting tools
Plastic packaging is all around us – and it can have a negative effect on our environment. So why do we, as a tool manufacturer, use plastic packaging? Special plastic product packaging is essential to ensure that our high-quality, and in some cases sensitive, tools can be stored without damage and are safely received by our customers.
This means that all packaging must be extremely robust, while being as small and light as possible, as well as ideally stackable. As yet, there are no serious contenders to plastic, which is why we have optimised the existing versions for sustainability.
Sustainable packaging is made of 100% recycled material and can be fed back into the loop in full.
What makes packaging sustainable?
Plastic packaging and sustainability are not necessarily mutually exclusive – thanks to consistent and correct separation of plastic after its use. Private households have special bins for sorting recycling. This passes through sorting plants, is shredded and subjected to various methods to sort (PP or PE) and process it. This post-consumer recycled content (PCR) can then be used to produce new products.
Alongside PCR, post-industrial recycled content (PIR), derived from residues of the plastics industry, is also used. This could include residue from stamping processes or faulty batches, for instance. The advantage for you is that they are particularly easy to recycle as they are single-grade and hardly contaminated. PIR therefore represents a useful alternative to new products where PCR is not available or special material purity is required.
To turn it back into a precious resource, sorted waste is milled, cleaned, melted, filtered and regranulated. The recycled material is just as good as the oil-based material. It offers the usual level of protection and same product quality as base materials derived from oil.
These are the granulates with which our partner rose plastic AG works. The family-based company from Hergensweiler in Lindau, Germany has produced recyclable packaging for over 65 years and has established itself as a world market leader in the production of plastic packaging for tools. Only recyclable plastic material is used, and thanks to the single-grade manufacturing processes, this leads to an internal recycling quota of almost 100%. This results in fully-fledged products which have been tested a thousand times.
What can recycled content offer?
Standards for collecting old plastic material vary around the world. Consequently, the recycled product may have a different colour depending on the process or method of separation. Country-specific circumstances also play a part in this context. Dark material, for example, results when all the plastic waste from the recycling bin is used for further recycling.
PCR products fulfil very high standards in terms of quality and performance. Yet they differ in some ways from new products, though this is not a sign of inferior quality. Finished packaging products may have small visible inclusions and the inner contour of blow-moulded items has a slightly textured surface. Film hinges exhibit more intense stress whitening but this does not affect the altogether efficient functioning of the hinges. Furthermore, PCR packaging has a slight odour.
And the advantages are huge: using recycled content to produce packaging material reduces the quantity of fossil raw materials involved, while also decreasing energy consumption. For example, the production of common PET requires twice as much energy as recycling. Furthermore 75% fewer CO2 emissions are produced compared to the use of conventional granulate. The recycled content can be reused several times depending on its purity.
What are the advantages of using recycled content for the environment?
Functional packaging that's readily recognisable
First and foremost, packaging must be functional and provide optimum protection for our products. At the same time, you should be immediately able to recognise the sender from the packaging. To achieve this, we have developed a functional information system which clearly indicates the manufacturer – in our case through the red packaging – and includes an easy-to-understand label with the key product data.
This is echoed on all packaging types. We standardise as far as possible to minimise the number of different box types in circulation. For this reason, one of the types of packaging we use for our shank tools is BlockPack. It combines minimum forces when opening or closing with high holding forces when closed thanks to the TwistLock closure. As cushioning is a fundamental property when it comes to break-resistant packaging of our tools, the BlockPacks feature contoured tube ends and lateral support grooves as well as integrated feet.
In order to accommodate different tool lengths with one type, the length of the pack can be adjusted via a ratchet mechanism. They are also easy to hold in the hand, even with gloves, and are rigid, just in case something should fall on them. Neither moisture nor oil can harm them, let alone the valuable contents. BlockPacks are excellent for stacking and storage and can be closed and reused several times.
rose plastic supplies suitable special packaging for our large selection of indexable inserts with the InsertClick Box 2A and 3A. They have been specially developed for cutting inserts (ISO turning inserts, grooving inserts, thread turning inserts, indexable inserts, thread milling inserts). Thanks to the compartmentalisation of the boxes, the sensitive cutting inserts are perfectly protected.
For particularly high-quality PCD and CBN inserts for aluminium wheel machining, we use the InsertBox Connect for optimum product protection which rose plastic developed especially for CERATIZIT.. In the case of this individual packaging, we were able to dispense with the foam inlay needed in the old packaging. To ensure maximum protection for cutting inserts, however, there are specific compartments for the different indexable inserts. What is more, the CERATIZIT logo in the lid ensures that the indexable inserts are positioned precisely and rest securely in the packaging.
We use the following packaging types for our cutting tools, adapters and indexable inserts:
Our goal is to reduce CO2 emissions by at least 60%
A well-thought-out and well-managed closed loop recycling process makes plastic an important secondary material, even after its first life, scoring outstanding points when it comes to sustainability. Emissions of greenhouse gases can be significantly reduced by recycling plastic material compared to the production of new material. By recycling 1 tonne of plastic waste, emissions are reduced by 1.2 to 1.4 tonnes compared to the production of the same quantity of plastic from fossil sources.
In 2021, more than 6.3 million items of plastic packaging left our factories; this corresponds to a plastic weight of approximately 58.6 tonnes. If we extrapolate the expected volume in Europe for 2022, we can save 226 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year with the use of packaging made of PCR plastic when compared with virgin plastic. As a result, we will reduce our CO2 emissions relating to packaging by at least 60 percent.
The changeover of packaging sleeves to PCR has already begun and will gradually continue. There is enormous potential for our environment in the current developments, and we would like to use this to continue to reduce CO2 emissions. To do so we work closely with our technology partner rose plastic to open up new perspectives and routes to optimised packaging designs.
Help ensure that plastic packaging isn't a one-way street: send the spent boxes back into the loop via special collection points and help us to protect our environment and natural resources. We are happy to help!
Do you have any questions?
Want to learn more about how you can feed your packaging back into the recycling loop? Then speak to us directly or write to us at packaging@ceratizit.com.
You can find out more about recycling under Recycling at CERATIZIT.