DEBATIN celebrates its centenary – sustainability as a core DEBATIN value | Anton Debatin GmbH | EN

Until the nineteen-sixties, the sustainability of our planet was not something people gave much thought to. Environmental awareness only began to creep in as the West gradually became aware of the negative repercussions of industrial activity. Initially, people used phrases like “environmental hygiene” or “protecting the environment”. Only towards the end of the sixties did a terminology gradually become established. The snappier term Umweltschutz, or “environmental protection”, found its way into German parliamentary debates, thence into the media and thus into the public awareness. By the eighties, several key issues were battling for attention under this umbrella: acid rain, deforestation, spates of dead fish in the Rhine following the Sandoz chemical disasters.

Paper, polyethylene, post-consumer recycled film – the journey to carbon neutrality at DEBATIN

As the decades have gone by, DEBATIN has kept pace with the changing times – not only has our product range evolved; so have the materials we use. In the earliest days, we mostly processed and printed paper for the bags that were our initial core business – often assembled by hand.

In 1959, plastic polyethylene (PE) films were introduced to our production cycle; later, polypropylene (PP) would be added to our base materials. Both PE and PP are side products of the petroleum industry and have similarly low energy consumption during production and disposal. At the time, they were new, groundbreaking materials – the market and consumers loved them. What’s more, these materials do not contaminate groundwater, can be recycled, and do not release toxic gases when burnt.

1989 – DEBATIN Brochure – Immer Ideen für Hülle und Fülle

1992 – DEBATIN Brochure – Ein Bild von einem Unternehmen

Nowadays, however, we are looking more closely at these materials. After all, we want to be truly sustainable. We want to save on resources, create recyclable products, use recycled materials ourselves – and encourage our customers and partner companies to join us on the sustainability journey. That’s why, wherever possible, we now try and use post-consumer recycled material. That’s why we’ve developed our own in-house recycling loop. And that’s why we have drawn up our own sustainable procurement strategy.

DEBASAFE® Recycling Box

2007 – DEBASAFE® Recycling Bag

2018 – DERIBA CYCLE

The DEBATIN sustainability strategy

Sustainability has long been anchored in DEBATIN’s corporate vision and mission. And when we talk about sustainability at DEBATIN, we mean all-round sustainability – we mean ecological, economic, and social sustainability.

Back in 2017, the company and its entire product range completed the transition to carbon neutrality. We are systematic about our approach to our sustainability goals. We keep our partners and stakeholders updated and involved in our progress, and we contribute regularly to environmental and climate projects such as “Yes, we plant!”.

Another matter that’s very close to our heart is sharing our knowledge and experience. We believe strongly in the importance of debate and exchange within our sector and with other interested parties. The ways in which we do this include our specially produced leaflets, and internal and external training courses such as our sustainability webcast series “Wachse mit uns” (Grow with us).

We believe that mutual exchange and discussion is essential to motivate, support and ultimately ensure the success of sustainable business – and is the only way to progress sustainably hand in hand with our partners.

Ultimately, it’s our firmly held conviction that each and every one of us should take responsibility for thinking and acting sustainability in this world. And we believe that each and every one of us can be a part of real change, when we all pull together.