CHT Germany GmbH is on its way to a sustainably-acting chemical company.

With a corporate strategy geared towards sustainability and a defined path towards climate neutrality, the company has broken ground on a new container cleaning and recycling plant. Officials call the move an important milestone on the way to resource-optimized production and the use of the latest technologies to cut back on resources.

The company has invested almost five million euros at the Dußlingen site, making what company officials call a significant contribution to improving its carbon footprint.

The new state-of-the-art plant will be operated with maximum resource efficiency using heat from the renewable local heating network. The water circulates and comes from rainwater and the roof is used to generate renewable electricity. The PV system is dimensioned to its maximum size so that it generates more electricity than the container washing system below it needs.

Officials said a comprehensive analysis of its processes led the company to raise container management to a sustainable level and increase the use of reusable packaging. The company keeps the necessary packaging directly in circulation and reduces the overall amount of needed material. The energy required to clean and reuse existing packaging is less than that needed to recycle and produce new containers, official said.

CHT is saving on raw materials by building a resource-efficient new container washing system and recycling the residual materials and waste that still accumulate. With the new system, it is increasing the reuse of existing containers and can significantly reduce the procurement of new packaging (drums and IBCs). On-site cleaning allows for a reduction in transportation and further resources.