Reducing raw material consumption through a phased reduction in plastic packaging

To meet our 30% reduction target, wienerberger’s procurement, operations and H&S teams are collaborating with our customers and logistics partners to trial alternative packaging solutions.

This includes extensive testing of both reduced thickness of plastic shrink wrap and stretch wrap packaging, and removing the plastic wrapping altogether. Any alternative must be deemed safe for transport and avoid product damage in transit.

By the end of 2021 we have reduced our single use plastic packaging consumption by 48 tonnes, compared to 2019 levels.

Whilst we test new packaging configurations, wienerberger has made the decision to remove the coloured ink from our plastic packaging. Removing coloured ink means the plastic packaging can be recycled as a higher-grade material, thereby helping to avoid plastic disposal via landfill/incineration and ultimately reducing our reliance on virgin raw materials. This means customers will no longer see a large Wienerberger logo on our UK manufactured products. Instead each pack will be marked with easily removable labels which contain the same information normally printed onto the plastic packaging, indicating the product name, details, and handling advice. This a simple but useful step to facilitate a circular economy.