Since 2022 we are proud to collaborate with Plastic Bank Bank as OceanSteward to stop ocean plastic and improve collector lives in vulnerable coastal communities. Now we reached our common goal to prevent a total equivalent of over 2 million single-use plastic bottles from entering the ocean - that is around 40,000 kg of plastic.
Within these two years we we have collected and recycled 2 million plastic bottles, while positively impacting the lives of 309 collection members across 52 communities in Egypt and Indonesia together with Plastic Bank.
Thank you Plastic Bank for giving us the possibility to support and to improve the lives of collectors in vulnerable coastal communities.
We are looking forward to continuing our partnership!
January 2024. In 2022, the Lorenz Group joined the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and set itself science-based CO2 reduction targets. These short- and long-term targets were validated by the SBTi at the end of 2023.
This makes us one of the first companies in our industry to set a reduction target in the agricultural sector and a long-term net-zero target in addition to the traditional reduction targets.
"Limiting global warming is a global task that we as a society can only tackle together. As a company, we also want to live up to our responsibility and do our part," emphasizes Miriam Wollny, Sustainability Manager at Lorenz. "It was important to us to base our goals on a scientifically sound approach. We are therefore delighted that the SBTi has officially confirmed that our climate targets are in line with the latest findings of climate science."
Find out more about the targets here.
Graphic: The targets at a glance
December 2023. At the end of this year we would like to thank our partner Plastic Bank for the opportunity to be part of the #SocialRecycling movement.
Thank you for helping us turn waste into value and strengthen coastal communities. This year, we recommitted to protecting the equivalent of over a million single-use plastic bottles from rising to sea levels, and we helped improve the lives of foragers in vulnerable coastal communities in Indonesia. Together with Plastic Bank we created the #MomentsOfUs, which made a profound difference.
And we look forward to continuing our partnership and creating moments that matter in 2024!
December 2023. At the beginning of the year, we launched a project together with Klim to promote regenerative measures in potato cultivation in Germany. Klim has set itself the goal of bringing farmers, companies and consumers together to jointly establish a fully regenerative agricultural system. And we want to play our part.
So far, we have been able to recruit 27 of our contract farmers for our project - and that's just the beginning. We are aware that we can only counteract climate change and the loss of biodiversity by working together and that our farmers play a key role as experts.
For us, regenerative agriculture means applying various environmentally friendly practices with the aim of increasing soil health and biodiversity. For us, regenerative agriculture is also a key lever for achieving our net-zero emissions target.
July 2023. It is Plastic Free July and we are excited and grateful to announce that our partnership with Plastic Bank continues!
In early July we recommitted to stopping the equivalent of over one Million single-use plastic bottles from entering our ocean in 2023. This year we will thereby contribute to improving the lives of collectors in vulnerable coastal communities in Indonesia. 2022 we already saved one million plastic bottles from ending up in the ocean together with Plastic Bank.
We clearly see plastic as a valuable material which needs to be used with care and responsibility. Plastic Bank's approach thus fits perfectly with our values and our focus on "less plastic, more recycling".
March 2023. The Vaalharts Groundnuts Marketing (Pty) Ltd. (VGM), which is part of the family-led Lorenz Snack World Group, has successfully entered into a seven year loan agreement with AfricaConnect, a program initiated by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by DEG (Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft).
The cooperation will enable the South African company VGM, which procures and processes peanuts for the local and export market, to upgrade the existing facilities to the next technological standard to improve efficiency, ensure high food safety and quality also in the long term, while focusing on social and environmental aspects.
AfricaConnect is for example financing the modernization of VGM's machinery. Another goal of the program is to increase the involvement of smallholders and promote sustainable farming methods in the supply chain towards regenerative agriculture. This includes for example the creation of new jobs and the improvement of working conditions for seasonal workers. Another focus will be the introduction of a sustainable management system for the supply chain and the regular performance of a labor audit.
For Lorenz, the majority shareholding of VGM and thus the cooperation with AfricaConnect is a further step on the way to a sustainable supply chain "From Farm to Fork". Wherever possible, we already source raw materials directly from our contractual partners. For example, the potatoes for the chips products have always come predominantly from the vicinity of the respective production sites. But also with other raw materials such as cashews or peanuts, it is important to us and an integral part of our responsible sourcing strategy to seek direct contact with suppliers/farmers, to build trusting, long-term partnerships, and to get involved directly on site.
We have already been working together trustfully and successfully together with the experienced peanut specialist VGM for many years. At the beginning of June 2022, the South African branch of Lorenz Snack-World Holding acquired a majority stake in Valhaarts Groundnuts Marketing (Pty) Ltd (VGM). The family-owned company, based in South Africa's Northern Cape province, processes and markets up to 6,000 t of groundnuts per year and is one of the leading companies in this sector in South Africa.
March 2023. Up to now, we at Lorenz have used 100% sunflower oil to produce our Curly products. In recent months, however, like other manufacturers, we have been confronted with limited availability and increased purchasing costs for vegetable oils. This prompted us to look for new solutions.
That's why our Curly are now being produced with a mixture of sunflower oil and rapeseed oil. This helps us to react better to varying harvest output and market bottlenecks and thus ensure that our snacks are available in the future.
Of course, this has no effect on the taste. All Curly fans can be sure that their favorite snack will taste just as crispy, airy and delicious as before.
November 2022. Together we stopped one million plastic bottles from entering the ocean!
Much of the plastic that doesn’t make it to the recycling plant ends up in our rivers and ocean. Not only is this a danger to the animals and plants, but it also poses a threat to the climate, as plastic releases greenhouse gases as it slowly breaks down.
We clearly see plastic as a valuable material which needs to be used with care and responsibility. Plastic Bank's approach thus fits perfectly with our values and our focus on "less plastic, more recycling". We are therefore grateful to partner with Plastic Bank to address environmental and social challenges to reduce plastic waste.
June 2022. Together with the social enterprise we want to prevent plastic from entering rivers, seas and oceans and at the same time support people in emerging and developing countries with an additional source of income.
The idea behind it is this: People collect plastic waste from streets, beaches and shores, bring it to a Plastic Bank collection point and get paid for it. Plastic Bank processes the collected plastics to put them back into the supply chain. The recycled plastic is reborn as Social Plastic™ raw material and used to make products and packaging.
Plastic Bank's approach thus fits perfectly with our values and our focus on "less plastic, more recycling."
The goal for the first year is to collect about 20,000 kg of plastic, which is equivalent to about 1 million bottles that do not end up in the ocean.
And why Egypt? Here, there are no existing systems for recycling our packaging material and no infrastructure for waste management. Therefore, the colleagues of our subsidiary in Egypt have been looking for other solutions locally to achieve our sustainability goals in the area of packaging. We are convinced that the cooperation with such an innovative and committed partner as Plastic Bank is exactly the right next step on our way to bring together joy of life and responsibility.