Utz Industrial Compounds (UIC®)
Sustainability
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- Sustainability
- Utz Industrial Compounds (UIC®)
Quality
What is UIC®
Utz Industrial Compounds (UIC®) are our own brand of high-quality secondary raw materials. The physical properties of UIC® are comparable to those of virgin material. We declare the raw materials used in our products in a transparent and comprehensible manner.
In addition to our standard products with specially developed UIC® compounds, we offer customer- and project-specific solutions with the raw materials and compounds best suited to the customer's requirements.
Solid facts as the basis for quality
We assure our customers of the quality of UIC® secondary raw materials. Quality is continuously monitored and assured according to ISO standards. Our testing standard is based on a clearly defined multi-stage testing program with internal and external material tests and standardized product tests. Factory test certificates and data sheets are available upon request.
Our expertise brings reliability
Since the 1970s, Utz has built up extensive expertise in the handling of recyclates. This expertise enables us to consider the specific characteristics of UIC® secondary raw materials in product design, tooling and manufacturing processes. Process safety and quality are guaranteed.
Sustainability
Using UIC® makes environmental and economic sense
The Utz Group has a clear commitment to sustainability and reducing its own CO2e emissions. The use of UIC® secondary raw materials reduces the CO2e footprint of an Utz product by 60 percent (eliminating all pre-production of raw material). Already more than 25 percent of Utz's raw materials are UIC® and we will continue to increase this in the coming years. The lower CO2e footprint of products made from UIC® also reduces the offsetting costs for climate-neutral products by more than 50 percent.
Important contribution to a closed loop economy
The use of UIC® brings us very close to the goal of a closed-loop economy. UIC® is an important part of the Utz business model.
At the same time, we reduce our need for new goods and can work in a more resource-efficient way and avoid all emissions that occur during raw material production. An ecological bullseye.
By reusing valuable resources multiple times and keeping them in the material cycle, we make an important contribution to a CO2e-neutral circular economy and to achieving the net-zero emission targets of the EU and the UN.
Innovative and sustainable together
Together with our online shipping customer, Hermes Fulfilment GmbH, we have developed a new returns container. The project teams benefited from a long-standing and trusted partnership and close collaboration. The innovative design improved product weight, noise levels in the returns warehouse and handling ergonomics for employees.
A total of 1.3 million bins will be produced, which will be used as a means of transport in all Otto Group returns operations for inbound and outbound processes and will be adapted to the highly automated distribution centers. Old and existing trays are taken over by Utz, recycled and the recovered material reused for new containers.
In line with the climate strategies of the Otto Group and the Utz Group, the reduced weight (-20%) and increased recycled content (50%) of the containers have reduced the carbon emissions of both companies.
With this project, the Otto Group and the Utz Group show how cooperation and innovation can promote the circular economy and reduce carbon emissions.
Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation
A quick overview of the key points of the PPWR
The PPWR is the EU regulation setting out the rules on packaging. Its goal is to reduce packaging waste. The review of the PPWR began in 2021. A compromise was agreed upon by the Parliament and Council on 4 March 2024. There remains to be a final vote to approve the text in the autumn. We can therefore expect the publication of the PPWR in Q4 2024. It will enter into force 20 days later. The PPWR will apply from 18 months after its entry into force, i.e. from approximately mid-2026.
