Kiefel Driving Sustainability

Our permanent striving for future-oriented acting in all our activities is among the most important ingredients for being the leading solution provider for the development and implementation of the most sustainable technology.

EcoVadis places Kiefel among the top 15% of companies

The world's largest provider of sustainability ratings, EcoVadis, has awarded the company, consisting of the Freilassing-based Kiefel GmbH with subsidiaries in Micheldorf (Austria) and Sprang-Capelle (Netherlands), a silver medal in the overall ranking. This places Kiefel among the most sustainable 15% of all companies audited by EcoVadis and even among the top 4% of the industry.

The EcoVadis certification is based on an extensive questionnaire on the four categories of "Environment", "Labor and human rights", "Ethics" and "Sustainable procurement". Since the last assessment in 2023, the overall score has improved thanks to the implementation of additional policies and measures. According to the provider, they already certify more than 130,000 companies in over 180 countries in a wide variety of industries worldwide.

Trust is the cornerstone of our business. Compliance with applicable laws, responsible conduct, and ethical behavior are all integral parts of our value system.

The centerpiece of our corporate culture and our internal compass is our Code of Conduct. It gives us guidelines and is an expression of our ethical and social responsibilities.

Our commitment to transparency of Kiefel activities and management behavior:

• Prevention of anti-competitive behavior and corruption
• Rules on conflicts of interests
• Prohibition of money laundering
• Acceptance of gifts and invitations
• Truthful information

Sustainability guides our path when it comes to innovation. We rethink product design and functionality, materials and composition with a view to a more sustainable product. Correspondingly, we adapt manufacturing processes and optimize machines and tools for production.

You can choose to use classic, recyclable plastics such as rPET, bio-based materials such as PLA or natural fibers – Kiefel has the machine solution. Your sustainable product can thus more easily be recycled and returned to the circular economy, be biodegradable or even compostable.

NATUREFORMER KFT 90 as Advanced Version receives Gold Award in the German Packaging Award 2023 in the Packaging Machines Category

Kiefel's NATUREFORMER KFT 90 as Advanced Version, which allows customers to reduce cycle times by up to 30% in fiber-packaging production, was further honored with the Gold Award for particularly groundbreaking innovation among the winners.

NATUREFORMER KFT 90 Speed machine receives WorldStar 2023 Awards

The innovations and commitment of Kiefel for creating packaging solutions of the future and in responding to new challenges and global trends such as sustainability, hygiene and other trends, have been recognized by the WorldStar 2023 Awards.

WPO annually recognizes the best of the best in packaging innovations from all around the world, and in 2023 the NATUREFORMER KFT 90 Speed Machine has been one of them. Additionally it has a low CO2 footprint.

Among the finalists for German Sustainability Award 2021

With our NATUREFORMER series, machines for the production of packaging from natural fibers, we are among the 82 finalists for the German Sustainability Award in the "Design" category. Out of originally more than 1,000 applicants, we have been able to fight our way through.

The coveted national award recognizes excellence for a sustainable future. Now, our NATUREFORMER KFT one of them, impressing with thermoformed packaging made from renewable, biodegradable raw materials while making efficient use of energy and resources.

ABB Sustainability Award

Automation group ABB presented Kiefel with the international European Value Provider Award in the "Sustainability" category yesterday. This recognizes the development achievement of the NATUREFORMER KFT 90 machine, on which products made from natural fibers can be formed.

"This underlines the great innovative strength that underlies our technologies." Andrea Cassoni, Managing Director of the General Industry division at ABB, adds: "As a mechanical engineering company, Kiefel is exemplary in terms of sustainability.

Kiefel Supplier Award

With our regular international "Kiefel Supplier Awards", we reward outstanding performance in services.

We look for consistant excellence in the areas of quality, service and technical support. Sustainability also plays a decisive role in the supplier evaluation.

A long-term and sustainable partnership with our suppliers is important to us, which is why we honor the best suppliers with the Kiefel Supplier Award every year.

Digitalization is continuously making processes more efficient and, most importantly, more sustainable.

For machinery and equipment, the Group companies rely on intuitive human machine interfaces (HMI), enabling, among other things, resource-efficient control of the various processes as well as decentralised maintenance. We received the red dot award design in 2020 for the design of our HMI.

After sales services are also performed remotely. Not only do they help you reduce time and save travel costs, but also prevent C0₂ emissions.

We take an active role for a better future and are committed to contributing to a healthy environment and a society worth living in through sustainable action. We want to achieve our economic success only in accordance with internationally recognized human rights standards and laws.

In this context, we have committed ourselves to the ten principles of the UN Global Compact and we support the 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda.

The people who work together at Kiefel are the cornerstone of our success.

Therefore, we do everything for a healthy working environment, from state-of-the-art work clothes and shoes, to related accident prevention equipment (such as eye protection glasses, ear plugs, gloves, etc.). In addition, annual occupational safety training, adapted to different job profiles, is mandatory for all employees.

In addition, we cooperate with appointed company doctors at many sites and an occupational safety specialists. The company doctor carries out occupational medical check-ups for employees and advises on all medical issues associated with work, the workplace, and occupational medical precautionary measures.

The occupational safety specialist works closely with the company doctors to provide advice and support for accident prevention and in identifying potential accident risks. Responsibility for work safety in the company lies with the occupational safety officer, the safety specialists, and the management.

Furthermore, employee benefits including discounts for local recreational facilities are offered by Kiefel.

At Kiefel there is no room for discrimination.

Our commitment in our Code of Conduct is part of daily business for us: Nobody is discriminated because of ethnic origin, gender, religion or beliefs, disability status, age, sexual identity or any other factors.

We are proud that employees of 28 different nationalities form our Kiefel Team, creating an atmosphere of diversity, tolerance, and equal opportunity.

Around 15% of Kiefel employees are women and they make up 14% of the top management at Kiefel GmbH.

Our salary structure ensures fair and equal pay, that is determined by the position, qualification and experience. We take care to ensure that working hours do not exceed the maximum permitted under the applicable laws and regulations.

Our representative for severely disabled employees provides assistance with applications and correspondence as well as providing support options at the workplace.

And of course, we take a stand for equality and reduce inequalities as to the greatest possible extent.

Kiefel wants to contribute to the protection of natural resources and and reduce its negative impact and as far as possible.

The machinery manufactured by Kiefel is made mainly of metals, such as steel and aluminium, and incorporates finished parts made of these materials, as well as copper for the necessary wiring. Apart from this, they include significantly smaller quantities of plastic and laminates, oils, greases and chemicals, as well as the wood, cardboard and paper for packaging and shipping.

With its energy policy, Kiefel is also committed to continuously optimizing its energy-related services sustainably.

NEXTLOOPP - Recycling of PP for food-grade applications

The NEXTLOOPP initiative focuses on closing the loop of mechanically recycled food-grade polypropylene. The mechanical recycling of PP waste into high-quality rPP is an important step towards creating a sustainable circular economy. The circular economy can only be fully realized if plastics can be recycled back into food-grade applications. As this is not yet possible for mechanically recycled PP today, there is still work to be done here. We are convinced that NEXTLOOPP will make a unique and valuable contribution to closing the loop on food-grade PP. As part of this initiative, tray-to-tray and cup-to-cup recycling will be given a real opportunity for market introduction. We are proud to be a member of this initiative.

PrintCYC - successful recycling of printed plastic films

The PrintCYC (Printed PP films for mechanical recycling) project group is exploring ways to create circular economy solutions. The specific target of the first two project phases was to understand the impact of different ink formulations on the mechanical PP and PE recycling process. Furthermore, the re-usability of PP and PE recyclates (rPP / rPE) made from printed post-industrial film waste was evaluated in cast film, blown film, compression moulding and thermoforming technologies as well as the biaxial stretching process.

Members of this project are Kiefel, Brückner Maschinenbau and PackSys Global, the film producer Profol, the ink manufacturers Huber Group and Siegwerk, the converters Constantia Flexibles and Wipak as well as the recycling specialist Erema.

Holy Grail - digital watermarks for better sorting

In order to improve the sorting and consequently the recyclability of plastics, renowned brand owners, such as Procter & Gamble, have initiated the European “HolyGrail” project, in which Kiefel participates.

This involves using digital watermarks on packaging to obtain more material information, e.g. whether a material used to be food-safe. The printed or imprinted watermarks (largely invisible QR codes) are scanned and provide information about the material composition. More detailed sorting ensures a higher quality of recyclates and thus makes it easier to achieve recycling targets.

Digital Product Passport with R-Cycle

Kiefel is now a member of the R-Cycle. An association of companies and organizations that are committed to the global standardization of digital product passports for plastic products - based on GS1 standards.

R-Cycle is the open traceability standard for sustainable plastic products and packaging. With the digital product passport, (recycling)-relevant information is automatically recorded during packaging production and filling, forwarded through the value chain and made retrievable via a corresponding marking (e.g. digital watermark). This enables waste sorting systems to identify recyclable packaging and form recycling-friendly, unmixed fractions. This is the basis for obtaining high-quality recyclates and a functioning circular economy.

There is a dramatic loss of biodiversity worldwide.

We try to support this impressive biodiversity as much as we can and offer habitats for regional insects and birds.

We have planted native trees and shrubs on our company premises in Freilassing, providing suitable habitats for a variety of animals. In addition to birch, maple, lime and ornamental cherry trees, there are also hedge roses, various snowball and privet bushes and many other tree and shrub species.

Environmental protection is an important part of corporate management in order to harmonize economy and ecology. A key component of this is to consider environmental aspects across the entire life cycle of products and services.

We have recorded the effects of our operational activities and considered the interactions with our environment. The main environmental aspects are our transportation of goods and energy consumption.