deSter Sustainability Report 2022

PRODUCT ESG REPORT DESTER 2022
RESPONSIBLE
RESOURCE USE
BY 2025, WE WILL ONLY WORK WITH RESPONSIBLY
SOURCED AND SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS
In addition to keeping our products
from ending up in landfills, (see section
on Sustainable Products) we are
also working to source materials for our
products that minimize negative impacts
on biodiversity, climate change
and society. We look at the impact of
how each material is extracted, created
and transported to understand
its overall environmental impact.
Our approach to responsible resource
use
• Use materials that fit our Circular
Economy approach by limiting
resource at onset, and choosing
recyclable or organically compostable
options
• Where possible, use recycled
materials and materials based on
renewable resources
• Avoid illegal extraction of resources,
such as illegal forestry
• Use materials with the lowest CO2
impact from a lifecycle perspective
• Ensure that our materials meet
all statutory environmental and
safety requirements under European
or national law, including
regulations such as the EU Singleuse
Plastic Directive and the
Packaging and Packaging Waste
Regulation
• Ensure our sourced products
are ethically produced, covered
through our Supplier Code of
Conduct, where we focus on the
UN guiding principles and the
fundamental principles of the ILO
(International Labor Organization)
In addition to these general approaches,
we have a more specific strategy for
sourcing plastic- and fiber-based raw
materials as described below. Additional
actions on material efficiency during
production can be found in the section
of Planet/Waste Management.
RESPONSIBLE USE OF
PLASTIC
Our approach and targets
• Use recycled plastic materials where
possible
• Decouple plastics from oil. Use renewable
resources when financially
reasonable and environmental benefits
are more favorable compared
to fossil fuel-based counterpart
• Use plastics with the lowest CO2
impact considering creation, weight,
transport, production, usage and
end-of-life
• Since 2020, we have been phasing
out polystyrene plastic material with
an aim to eliminate it completely by
2025. This step is due to a lack of efficient
recycling technologies available
for this group of polymers and
their emission of Volatile Organic
Compounds
Plastic material measurements
In the section on sustainable products
and sustainable product metrics, we reported
a decrease in plastics products
sold. Looking at the number of recycled
plastics sold, only recycled PET (rPET)
can be used as a recycled plastic material,
since our products are intended for food
contact. Therefore, we measure our performance
by comparing the total amount
of recycled plastics (rPET) used with the
total amount of rPET used (i.e. rPET
versus Virgin PET and rPET combined)
in line with our strategy to use recycled
materials where possible. The amount
of recycled material from our closed-loop
recycling of products is currently low and
not yet measured.
In 2022, the total amount of rPET was
40% compared to the total amount of
PET material, marking an increase compared
to 2019. In 2020 and 2021, the
percentage of rPET versus the total PET
used was higher. The higher percentage
of rPET material is explained by the fact
that during the pandemic, most customers
in the food sector continued to order
rPET material, while many customers in
the aviation sector showed a huge drop
in ordering products made of Virgin PET
material.
Starting in 2020, we have been phasing
out PS material by replacing PS with alternatives
and ceasing sales of PS products.
The graph shows a 63% reduction in 2022
compared to 2019. We are well on track
to meet our target of completely moving
away from PS material by 2025.
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