42
IN FOCUS SUSTAINABILITY
The bad image of plastics - How could things have come to such a pass? ALPLA Group
Interview by Dr. Otto Appel with Dr. Christoph Hoffmann Director Corporate Strategy, Sustainability & Circular Economy
F lexibility is everything! Real meetings are still not possible in the pandemic’s current phase, so my long-planned meeting with Dr. Christoph Hoffman from ALPLA Group then took place as a zoom conversation. We had arranged to meet in Regensburg’s beautiful city for a theme- oriented - i.e. sustainable - walk that was to end in a rustic Bavarian tavern. We wanted to exchange ideas about the image of plastics, sustainability and the challenges for the packaging industry. We missed the atmosphere of the real meeting - and the Bavarian beer - but we went into depth in terms of content as if we had actually met. The pandemic challenges all of us - society, politics, companies. The plastics processing industry was already under fire before the outbreak, and the bad image has lost none of its strength and relevance. The development and production departments
have their hands full optimizing their products’ sustainability and establishing the circular economy more and more. But the poor image of plastics also worries HR managers when it comes to training occupations. However, the pandemic is currently setting different priorities and challenging companies on an entirely new level.
technicians and ready to solve problems. So the main benefit of virtual platforms, communication, is there. And we also see a positive side effect: In addition to travel costs and time, we also save a lot of CO 2 . This brings us to today’s topic: We want to talk about sustainability, about the sustainability of plastics and plastic packaging. Keywords are emotions, acceptance, strategies, recycling. Issues that the entire packaging industry demands in all areas. Do you have an answer to what the problem with plastics is? CH: A general question, and yet one of great importance. And it’s true: there is a problem with plastics. But of course, we cannot reduce it to a single point; the whole thing is very complex. Perhaps I can make it clearer - concerning the
How does a company like ALPLA - with numerous production sites worldwide - manage to keep the strings in hand, communicate strategies, and give direction?
CH: After a short acclimatization phase - the phrase “Please switch on your microphone, please” kept coming up - we are now very well connected virtually, and it works fine. In retrospect, it wasn’t all that dramatic. After all, we are
CONNECTING COMPETENCE | ONE:21
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online