deSter Sustainability Report 2022

PRODUCT ESG REPORT DESTER 2022
PRODUCT QUALITY
AND SAFETY
OUR APPROACH
As a food packaging manufacturer,
consumer health and safety, alongside
product quality, are high on our agenda.
We act with integrity and comply with all
applicable health, safety and environmental
legal requirements and internal
standards of performance.
All of the products manufactured by
deSter comply with our Quality Assurance
System (QAS) and the food contact
safety framework set out in EU regulation
No. 1935/2004. Our QAS includes quality
control procedures and instructions during
production, as well as labeling requirements
with article numbers, production
dates and batch numbers to assure full
traceability. This assures consistently
high-quality products that conform to
the guidelines required for Good Manufacturing
Practice (GMP) as described in
the Regulation (EU) No 2023/2006.
The QAS is audited independently by
BRCGS. We are A-grade certified according
to BRCGS global standards for food
safety and packaging materials.
Certified food safety systems are tools
to ensure reliability on our health, safety,
and environmental performance. We also
expect our suppliers to comply with an
internationally accepted food safety
system. If the supplier has no valid certification,
we carefully audit the supplier
to ensure food safety.
We ensure the safety of our consumers,
staff, and the public by:
• Only releasing products that meet
all statutory safety requirements
under European or national law
• Informing consumers of any risks
associated with our products
• Continually assessing products,
packaging, labelling, ingredients,
adverse events, and complaints to
ensure safety
• Applying consistent consumer
safety standards for company operations
and products globally.
• Making sure all products can be
traced, so they can be removed in
case of any risks
• Following the Good Manufacturing
Practice (GMP) guidelines (described
in the EU regulation No 2023/2006)
in all our manufacturing locations
and working according to the
BRCGS norms for packaging materials
and food safety
In the event that an end-user experiences
any concerns or observes noncompliance,
they can report it the distributor
of our products who will share the report
with deSter (as deSter does not selling
products directly to end-users). All complaints
are taken seriously and investigated
via a strict Quality Complaint Process.
OUR TARGETS
2023
Keep consumer complaint
rate below 0.2 per 1,000
production hours
2023
All fiber-based new products
launches are PFAS free (without
added fluorinated compounds)
2025
Remove all PFAS from fiberbased
packaging materials
globally
All of our products comply with the highest
quality standards and adhere to EU
food approval regulations and REACH
chemical requirements. Nevertheless, we
are committed to proactively removing
PFAS (polyfluoroalkyl substances) from
our fiber-based products. While PFAS offer
excellent moisture, grease and stain
resistance, they do not naturally occur in
the environment. As they are resistant
to breaking down, they can accumulate
and pose health risks. Given the potential
environmental and health impacts, we
are phasing them out.
MEASUREMENTS AND
ACTIONS
We currently have a complaint rate of
0.13 per 1,000 production hours – a great
achievement that puts us below our 2023
target of 0.2 per 1,000 production hours.
Given the planned introduction of many
new sustainable products in the coming
year, our target remains 0.2 complaints
per 1,000 production hours.
We set our target to eliminate added
PFAS from our fiber-based products in
2022. Therefore, we have only taken an
initial measure of our progress so far. Currently,
36% of our fiber-based products
are completely PFAS-free. We view this as
a starting point to work from and improve
over the next two years.
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