Arvato wins Environmental Protection Award in Ireland

Arvato Hightech in Ireland has been honored by the Repak initiative for the second year running: the Arvato subsidiary received the “Best Member Award 2012” at the Repak Recycling Awards in Dublin for its continuous commitment to reducing packaging.

Since receiving the award the year before for “Best Packaging Prevention Initiative,” Arvato Hightech has continued to systematically reduce packaging materials at its Dublin location, increase its waste recycling levels, and make the knowledge gained in the process available to other companies. Three good reasons for Repak, an initiative between Irish industry and the Environmental Protection Agency, to once again award Arvato.

In 2011, Arvato Hightech launched the Ikarus project under the guidance of quality engineer, Denis Gleeson. The goal: to reduce the amount of packaging for one pallet of products by at least 20 percent – without impairing the effectiveness of the packaging. To achieve this, the employees in Ireland scrutinized each individual component of the packaging.

To date, more than 40 tons of packaging material has been saved, for a 61 percent reduction in weight. Changing the boxes from two-layer to single-layer cardboard alone resulted in 17 tons fewer of cardboard packaging. Some of the solutions found by Arvato could also be used in other industries. For this reason, the employees, together with Repak, have made them available to other companies through case studies.