Carl Siegert: Dilemmas in practice

"When it comes to packaging, you always run into dilemmas as a food produce," says Carl Siegert, owner-director of the bakery Carl Siegert in Harmelen, where sustainable business practices are paramount.

His company was one of the first to start using bioplastics as packaging material years ago: "Because it was more sustainable," Carl explains. "However, it later turned out that that material could not be recycled properly in waste disposal systems. We then quickly moved on from it." 

Less material, same strength

"Nobody wants a lot of waste, because it costs money," he continues. "So our ambition is to produce less waste every year; for ourselves, as well as for our customers." The company has managed to reduce the weight of the cardboard boxes in which most breads are packed from 500g to 330g. "There is a limit to how far you can go, though thanks to new technologies more and more is possible," Carl continues. "For example, we have to take into account that our bread rises a bit more in summer than in winter. That means the box has to be high enough; we don't want to start stuffing in the bread. Another condition was that the boxes should retain the same firmness; they have to remain stackable and sturdy, even in the freezer. More boxes can now fit on one pallet, so more loaves in one truck. Favourable, because then that truck has to drive less often; it all adds up to the footprint."

Quality comes first

The boxes are made of 100% cardboard, without laminate. So they can be completely recycled. To make it even more sustainable, the bakery will soon switch to a paper supplier closer to home: "That again saves transport kilometres", he stresses. Not all bread rolls go in boxes, by the way; a significant proportion is packed in LPDE film, which is easy to recycle. The fresh loaves in foil are delivered in Broban crates. These are in a return system, allowing them to be used thousands of times.

"We also want to make the foil as thin as possible. This is where another dilemma comes into play. Bread rolls can have sharp edges. If the packaging is too thin, it gets damaged as a result. That causes complaints, and of course we don't want that; the quality of our products, and therefore of the packaging we transport them in, is always paramount."

www.carlsiegert.com