Green packaging:
DERIX uses sustainable transport films

Securely and ecologically packaged wooden components from DERIX on their way to the construction site

The DERIX Group has been producing customised, high-quality timber engineering components for almost 100 years. With wood as a natural raw material, the company processes the most ecological building material of all: only wood binds one tonne of CO2 per cubic metre – and grows back. The company’s aim is to optimally utilise the ecological advantages offered by wood as a building material and to make the entire value chain from the raw material to the finished building as sustainable as possible.

After the company has already implemented a whole series of optimisations for sustainability and climate protection in all areas of the company in recent months and years, the company is now tackling the challenge of packaging: The necessary transport packaging needs to be sustainable. This is because before the ready-bonded timber beams, walls, ceilings and room modules can travel from the production plant to the construction site, they have to be packed in weatherproof packaging. After all, many of the large-format products are transported to the assembly site on open trailers – making reliable protection against moisture absolutely essential.

‘We are constantly on the lookout for new, innovative ways to further implement a circular economy. After introducing a new type of bio-based adhesive in our production at the beginning of the year, we are now following suit with packaging film. An average of 13 large consignments leave our production facility every day. That adds up to a lot of packaging material,’ explains Peter Hambach, Head of Purchasing at the DERIX Group.

Henning H. Sittel, Resource Conservation Consultant at the Efficiency Agency NRW (efa) in the Lower Rhine region, has accompanied the DERIX Group on its journey towards sustainable packaging solutions and commented: ‘For several years, I have been in close dialogue with the DERIX Group on measures to improve the use of resources and circularity within the company. I was therefore particularly pleased that the company was able to find a sustainable solution for its packaging with the help of the efa packaging matrix.’

Simone Derix, Commercial Director of the DERIX Group and member of the Management Board, emphasises: ‘We are proud to be able to reduce our carbon footprint by a third by using the new film with a recycled content of 82%. We would prefer to completely dispense with the use of packaging film and avoid using it wherever possible. We now have a sustainable solution for cases where it is not possible to do without protective film. In this way, we are already acting in line with the planned new EU regulation for packaging (PPWR), which is to be introduced in 2025 and will stipulate recycling quotas,’ says Derix.

The introduction of sustainable film is a milestone success for the DERIX Group. The company is continuing to work on optimising its packaging: the next step here is to examine the use of reusable packaging.

Listen to the latest podcast on the topic
Efficiency Agency NRW ‘Conserving resources – circular economy’
Listen to the podcast