Vandersanden receives Ufemat Best Practice Award
Brick manufacturer Vandersanden received the Ufemat Best Practice Award at the 63rd Ufemat Congress. The company scored on all the criteria for the award: the use of recycled content in the packaging, design for recycling, reusable packaging and innovation towards more sustainability.
A vision for success
More than one-hundred building materials merchants and manufacturers from twelve European countries participated in the 63rd Ufemat Congress in Dublin on Friday April 21st. Under the title ‘A vision for success’ three main conference themes were highlighted: due diligence, recycled content in the packaging material, and safety at work & vocational training in building materials. Vandersanden received the Ufemat Best Practice Award, because the company scored highly on all of these criteria.
Our promise for the future
Collective Well-being, with sustainability at its core, has been a key priority at Vandersanden from the very outset. We have been investing in innovative production methods and the sustainability of our production sites and products for many years. Today, we are on the move on virtually all fronts. Together to Zero is our promise for the future: a sustainability programme with concrete steps in eight domains - from dematerialization to the use of circular materials - that aims to reduce our CO2 emissions to zero by 2050.
Sustainable packaging methods
Through sustainable packaging methods and the reuse of materials, Vandersanden helps to keep waste to a minimum and contributes to a healthy, safe, and sustainable environment for future generations.
We are taking the following important steps towards circular packaging:
1. Eco-packaging
We introduced sustainable packaging made of at least 30% of recyclate (PCR). By 2025, we aim to increase this amount to 50%. By using shrink wrap covers, consisting of one third of recycled materials, we were able to use a minimum of 213 tonnes of recyclate in 2022, reducing our yearly CO2 emission with 400,000 kg. In our Dutch plants, we reduced the shrink wrap from 125 µm to 100 µm, reducing carbon emissions by 51.5 tonnes last year. We also introduced eco-printing at all our locations, printing only 10% of the cover surface and using up to 80% less ink. Eco-printed covers are also easier to recycle into high-quality material. By using QR codes, we reduced the number of labels from two to one per package.
2. Return service for wooden pallets
Last year, we launched a return service for wooden pallets in Belgium and the Netherlands. A win-win:
- For our customers: we take away a bulky item, so that customers no longer need to dispose of the pallets and are able to save money. The service is completely free of charge.
- For Vandersanden: as a response to the rising timber prices.
- For the environment: by reusing wood we fight material wastage.
3. New plastic return pallets
Together with KNB, the Dutch Ceramic Federations, we are involved in a sector-wide initiative creating a standard for reusable small pallets, which are common in the Netherlands
We are currently running tests with lighter and smaller reusable plastic return pallets in our Dutch production units.
4. EURO-pallets
For all other countries Vandersanden will introduce new EURO-pallets. At our plants in Spouwen, Lanklaar and Hedikhuizen - that cover 80% of our facing brick production - we are now running trials to ‘re-stack’ our bricks automatically onto these new pallets. An unloading robot makes sure the bricks fit correctly, ensuring every package's safety and stability.
5. Dematerialisation
We recently introduced our S-line® bricks: a range of ecological facing bricks and pavers produced with less energy and raw materials. S-line® offers the same quality as traditional bricks, but with a smaller environmental impact. Since it is possible to stack 40% more bricks onto one pallet with the same weight, S-line bricks are slim, sustainable and cost-effective, not only in production, but also in packaging and transport.
About UFEMAT
UFEMAT is the Union of National Federations of Building Materials Merchants in the EEC. It was founded in 1958 in Brussels, in the slipstream of the treaty of Rome.
