Sustainability

Sustainable laminates

With regard to the final product, Universal Pack is strongly committed to designing and building packaging machines able to process new eco-friendly laminates. This technology allows for the the production of sustainable packages used by the consumers at the end of the supply chain.

A holistic approach to the sustainable laminates issue is fundamental to take effective and result-oriented actions. For this reason, Universal Pack collaborates with global/international laminate suppliers, research institutions and Universities to develop and test the machinability of new eco-friendly laminates, which can be compostable or recyclable, as well as recycled. We tested on our machines thousands of sustainable film laminates with specific procedures:

1. Preliminary analysis of the laminate, to determine its most relevant characteristics considering our packaging technology;
2. Laminate machinability test, which allows us to adjust any parameter to ensure the best result;
3. Analysis of the result obtained;
4. Final analysis of the laminate suppliers for further inspections before the final assessment.

Universal Pack machines and lines can work with many different sustainable laminates, such as:

• PP – Polypropylene;
• PLA – Polyactic acid;
• PA – Paper;
• Bio-PE – Bio-based polyethylene.

Sustainable machines

Together with corporate sustainability initiatives, Universal Pack has been increasing the investments towards sustainability in its packaging machines and automated lines.Nowadays, energy consumption is one of the most critical aspects for all kinds of industries. On the one hand, in most countries all around the world, energy costs are soaring, causing troubles in manufacturing processes. On the other hand, companies are trying to lower their environmental impact by consistently reducing energy consumption.

All the machines designed and manufactured by Universal Pack engineers come with brushless motors, which are more energy-efficient. As a result, the average consumption of brushless motorization is far less than brushed motors, with a substantial reduction of energy losses up to 50% and a longer lifespan (no brush erosion).

Alongside brushless motors, we have been installing on our machines specific systems for improved consumption optimization and control, to guarantee you the highest efficiency and performance with the lowest energy consumption.

Corporate sustainability

Cutting undifferentiated waste, powering our factories with renewable solar energy and managing lean processes for limiting the carbon footprint are just three of the main activities conducted by Universal Pack to help our planet. For instance, Universal Pack made some important investments for the installation of solar panels on most of the roof surface of our plants. Powering the whole plants with solar renewable energy allows us to reduce the impact of the company on the environment limiting greenhouse gas emissions and saving much more water (used in traditional energy systems) each year.

With regard to waste sorting, we placed separate garbage collectors in every room and space of our plants. As a result, we have reduced undifferentiated waste by 50% since 2018, creating a good practice for cutting pollution. Alongside the latter activities, we also comply with the current European guidelines in relation to emissions. The choice of materials and products with lower environmental impact, together with the use of renewable solar power contribute to the reduction of our carbon footprint.

Our initiatives towards sustainability are nothing without parallel actions fostered by our partners. For this reason, Universal Pack regularly verifies sustainability patterns of its partners in the supply chain. Safeguarding the sustainability standards of our packaging machines and automated lines is essential. Consequentially, we define specific procedures for ethical, social and environmental performance monitoring of every potential supplier.