Packing problem: single-use plastics

The best thing would be if we could make new bags from post-consumer packaging. For example, from Germany's Yellow Bag Recycling Program in which used plastic packaging is collected from households. This would at least help close the loop for raw materials to some extent, if we still must use these plastic bags.

Unfortunately, using post-consumer packaging isn’t that simple. Since the content from the recycling program is always different, the quality of the plastic made from it also varies greatly. Sometimes it’s not stable enough, you can see "streaks" or other impurities, or it has a smell. That is why we are doing more tests together with our bag suppliers and trying to produce sufficient quality.

Until we succeed, we are taking an intermediate step and using polybags made from post-industrial plastic waste and is therefore much purer and of a higher quality. Since the materials used would otherwise also have to be disposed of as waste, this is also considered a recycled material and is certified with the Recycled Claims Standard.

On the recommendation of the Federal Environment Agency, we do not use "compostable" plastics for disposable items such as packaging. Although these are theoretically biodegradable, they don’t actually decompose under normal conditions but only under industrial composting conditions at high temperatures and without an oxygen supply.

They are also problematic for compost or biogas production. In most cases, they decompose much more slowly than organic waste and end up causing blockages at conventional biogas plants where they have to be carefully removed from the compost and disposed of. This makes neither ecological nor economic sense.

They don't belong in plastic trash either. Since they are made of organic materials, they cannot be recycled. Here, too, they end up in residual waste.

Even the production of bioplastics isn’t environmentally friendlier. With the current state of technology, they require even more energy to produce than new plastics. Bioplastics are therefore only suitable for long-life products, not for disposable packaging.

We are therefore convinced that plastic packaging with the highest possible proportion of recycled material is currently the most environmentally friendly solution.

You can read about the conflicts and problems here

The production of plastic worldwide has increased twentyfold in the last 50 years. Of the approximately 80 million tons of plastic packaging worldwide, an alarming 32 % ends up in the environment – by far the most in Asia. What is simply missing here is a regulated waste disposal system in which plastics are collected and sensibly recycled – even if only as fuel for electricity or heat generation. 

VAUDE supports a large model project of the WWF, which is developing a waste management system in the ecologically particularly valuable Vietnamese Mekong Delta. The aim is not only to free the environment from the vast amounts of plastic, but also to raise awareness among politicians and the population. On the one hand, the threat posed by waste to the livelihoods of humans and animals and, on the other, the economic potential associated with the collection, sorting and recycling of plastics.

We are raising awareness of the problem among our suppliers in Asia, network them with the WWF in the project area, with the aim of increasing their contribution to concrete local solutions for the collection and recycling of plastics. More about the project here

Even the plastic industry has recognized the problem and is on its way to contributing to a solution.

Since 2014, VAUDE has had its own packaging guidelines for suppliers with clear instructions for maximum size, materials allowed and mandatory labeling that enables us to sort and recycle the packaging.

These guidelines are a component of our purchasing contract and are mandatory for all VAUDE products. We monitor adherence with random testing at our warehouse. We are currently in the process of revising the guidelines. Our goal is to work with our suppliers to make unavoidable packaging as environmentally friendly as possible.

The VAUDE Packaging Guidelines are available for download here.