Criticism of Klöckner

Animals are nature. So are we humans. Photo: Pixabay for © Pexels, 2019;

In a press release dated December 11, 2019, Federal Agriculture Minister Julia Klöckner speaks of "many improvements in the livestock sector". In the Animal Welfare Report 2015 - 2018 of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL), the individual points were simultaneously made public.

While the author of the report wants to identify an attitude "with which concrete measures the Federal Government is contributing to an improvement in the situation of farm animals, pets and laboratory animals", the German Animal Welfare Association (Deutscher Tierschutzbund e.V.) and we see the current situation as less rosy.

Kick-off

A large part of the press release is devoted to the killing of chicks, the efforts to achieve animal welfare labelling and the problems involved in implementing animal welfare standards in Germany. "If we want to prevent our agricultural production from migrating abroad and being produced there under conditions over which we have little influence, we need European regulations", said the Federal Minister of Agriculture.

Measurable confidence

After more than four decades of our own experience in the food sector as a specialist wholesaler for food packaging, we no longer trust certificates, seals or documents. In our Code of Conduct of 25 October 2017, we have clearly stated our position.

We therefore much prefer to trust the so-called Animal Welfare Label of the German Animal Welfare Association (Deutscher Tierschutzbund e.V.), which, according to our own research, is the only one that does not list any interpretable criteria for the applicants' evidence and is therefore measurable and serious in this respect. "All the others speak constantly in the subjunctive: would, had, could, if possible, if feasible ... then it can be left as it is", comments Ingo H. Klett, Head of Corporate Communications at WEBER Packaging GmbH.

Contents

Die wichtigsten Punkte des Tierschutzberichts für den Zeitraum 2015 - 2018 sind …

• the termination of non-curative interventions in animals

• the prevention of slaughter of highly pregnant animals (note: why pregnant animals at all?!?) the introduction of a voluntary (note: Ooops ... Fehlerteufel, dear BMEL. Back to the beginning again!) state animal welfare label the promotion of animal welfare at national and EU level to prevent distortions of competition

• the determination of the sex of chicks already in the egg

• the work of the State Secretary Committee for Animal Welfare specifically on laying hens and piglets

• the keeping of sows in crates, which has to be reduced in time (note: why at all in this confinement ...?)

• the implementation of coalition agreements on animal welfare

We invite you to use the commentary function on our official Facebook company page or right here afterwards to discuss the topics that interest you, to exchange ideas, to reflect, to philosophize and, ideally, to work constructively on solution-oriented answers that simplify your everyday business life and provide even more clarity for your customers and end users.

#unbreakingnews

Just as the constructively working editorial offices we support with a subscription each for solution-oriented, purely member-funded, ad-free and therefore truly independent journalism - Correctiv, Krautreporter, Perspective Daily and The Correspondent - set an example for us, we as the Corporate Communications department of WEBER Packaging GmbH also assume that, even with the greatest effort, there can be no purely objective reporting due to the very individual personal development and origins of the authors and editors.

Open. Honest. Honest.

In the spirit of a living culture of transparency, we are therefore happy to disclose to you at any time what connections we have or to whom our authors may feel obligated: as a trading company, for example, we enjoy the great privilege of not being obligated to anyone in the end and thus always being able to achieve the optimum for our clientele.

Ingo H. Klett – the author of this post – is a freelance public relations and visual artist, but does not represent the interests of any lobby groups.

EDEKA does without cucumber foil

EDEKA does not use plastic for all cucumbers. The new packaging strategy independent of this is based on the three pillars of reduction, reusable and recycling. Photo: © obs/EDEKA ZENTRALE AG & Co. KG/EDEKA / Christian Schmid, 2019

EDEKA now offers all cucumbers only unpackaged, saving 94 tons of plastic per year. This applies to all conventional and organic cucumbers, which are centrally purchased by EDEKA Fruchtkontor and delivered to the retail trade.

Tomatoes are also increasingly being sold in bulk or in cardboard trays instead of plastic in EDEKA stores. But not only for fruit and vegetables, but across the entire private label range, the EDEKA network optimises all products with regard to their packaging.

"We use three levers: "Where possible, we avoid plastic. At the same time, we promote reusable solutions and, thirdly, increase the proportion of recycled materials.

...says Markus Mosa, chairman of the board of the EDEKA headquarters. "But we also want to raise awareness of the fact that every individual has a choice when it comes to purchasing." With this objective, EDEKA launched a umfangreiche Informationsoffensive, to promote the use of environmentally friendly alternatives among consumers.

Under the motto "unpackaged", EDEKA is bringing the topic of plastic packaging into focus on all channels. Until the end of September, the three EDEKA strategies reduction, reusable and recycling will be presented using concrete product examples. Even with unconventional means - such as the new Online-Video "unverpackt", das seit dem Launch bei EDEKA auf YouTube und Facebook für Aufmerksamkeit sorgt. 

Cucumbers completely unveiled

The dealer's interim balance sheet is impressive: EDEKA currently has the lowest plastic quota in the fruit and vegetable departments and already offers more than half of this range without plastic packaging. This is the result of a market check* by the consumer advice centres in May 2019. And this quota is set to fall further: with immediate effect, EDEKA Fruchtkontor, which supplies fruit and vegetables to retailers throughout Germany, is completely dispensing with the plastic film used to shrink-wrap some of its cucumbers.

EDEKA has also created facts for other high-turnover products: For example, 5.4 million plastic trays are replaced by cardboard trays for truss tomatoes alone every year. Another example: By marking many fruits and vegetables with labels or laser printing (smart branding), around 50 tons of plastic can be saved per year. 

Reusable!

EDEKA also ensures less plastic waste with reusable products. Reusable nets are offered as an alternative to the thin plastic bags for fruit and vegetables. In three and a half years, EDEKA has already saved over 100 million conventional knot bags.

Reusable boxes or tray solutions are also becoming more and more common at the fresh food counters for meat and sausages. In the Büsum pilot market EDEKA Jensen alone, more than 2,000 of the refillable cans are already in circulation. Already established for a long time in almost all markets of the EDEKA network: resource-saving reusable systems for beverages, especially for reusable glass bottles from regional bottlers. 

A third element in the reduction of packaging waste is the reuse of recyclable materials. The EDEKA network works consistently to increase the proportion of recycled materials in the packaging of its own-brand products. For example, the orange juice bottles of its own brand GUT&GÜNSTIG now have a recycled plastic content of 50 percent, which saves 87 tons of new plastic per year.