Siegburg team expands Circular Economy workshops to area secondary schools

As part of our Circular Economy workshops for primary schools, an event was held on May 27 with two fourth-grade classes at a primary school in Siegburg. The sessions lasted approximately one hour each and included more than twenty students per class.
Due to its success and high demand, the program will soon be expanded to secondary schools, starting with seventh-grade students.

During the workshops, students were first introduced to Siegwerk and our work. This was met with great interest, as some children of employees also took part in the workshop. The children were particularly impressed with the international footprint of the company. They were interested in learning more about packaging from faraway countries.

The Siegwerk experts who led the workshop - Romain Germaneau, Head of White Portfolio Technology Development Flexible Packaging EMEA and Ingmar Bohnert, Sales Manager Inkjet explained the various packaging types and their benefits/differences. This was followed by scientific experiments with the shrink sleeve process, where students cut foil to the size of labels and wrapped them onto bottles. The students worked in pairs to complete their tasks.

Bohnert demonstrated the de-inking process to show how color is removed from film for reuse. And students received a clear explanation of how proper waste separation aids the recycling process.

Expansion to secondary schools

Due to the success of the  workshops, they are now being expanded to area secondary schools. Initial discussions have already taken place with our partner school, Anno Gymnasium, which is interested in our activities.

The aim is to pass on Siegwerk's expertise and get young people interested in sustainability, chemistry, and the company. Siegwerkers slated to join the workshops come from various departments including application engineers and chemists, the Circular Economy Hub, Human Resources, the office of the CEO and Corporate Social Responsibility.