The dairy industry puts environmental protection high on its list of key priorities. Because our industry lives of nature and lives with nature, we have a vested interest - more so than any other industry - in limiting and reducing environmental burden. A fact which is evident in packaging, for one thing, with a decreasing amount of energy and water being used and emissions being reduced.

The dairy industry is not one of the ecologically problematic sectors. After all, it trades in nature's products, and packaging is a major concern. Indeed, packaging is one of the key focuses of our industry, with constant modifications made to accommodate the very latest developments. These days, non-returnable plastic packaging uses 20 percent less material than it used to. A 200-g plastic yoghurt cup, for example, only weighs around 6.5 g, i.e. 40 percent less than it did in 1983.

The German dairy industry is also keeping abreast of developments to improve the use of packaging material which the Federal Environment Office considers to be ecologically correct. The tremendous developments which have transpired in the disposal and recycling business have created a host of new opportunities for harmonising ecology and economy on the one hand and consumer demands on the other. Some examples thereof are compound cardboard with re-closable openings (recap) or highly recyclable PET bottles. Advances in the area of PP (polypropylene) / PS (polystyrene) technology and HDPE (HighDensityPolyEthylene) mean we can expect further ecologically relevant developments in future.

The German dairy industry is also resolutely pursuing ways to further optimise packaging and thus make it even safer for consumers. Indeed, cooperative efforts are afoot within the industry to devise specifications for milk packaging.