Thomas Ulbricht – Experienced Expert

“I am very pleased to be the new face of the Professional Division at Werner & Mertz and part of a company that is a pioneer in the practical implementation of a forward-looking sustainability strategy,” says Thomas Ulbricht. “This philosophy is our unique selling point, which I intend to communicate to the outside world.”

Before his move to Werner & Mertz, Thomas Ulbricht worked for Buzil-Werk Wagner GmbH & Co. KG in Memmingen, where he was head of Finance & Administration from 2012 to 2016 and Executive Director from 2017, most recently with responsibility for brand sales. Buzil develops and distributes cleaning and care products for professional facility cleaning and industry-specific applications. At the beginning of 2019, Ulbricht was appointed a member of the German and the European Economic Senate.

Thomas Ulbricht is a highly qualified industrial engineer. After his studies at Rosenheim University of Applied Sciences, he relocated to London where he completed a master’s degree before joining the auditing and tax consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. Before working at Buzil, he gained experience in various positions, including at KPMG and Infineon Technologies AG. From 2005 to 2012, he worked for energy service provider ista international GmbH in Vienna, where he was responsible for finances in the Southern Europe region.

Pouch design is revolutionizing the recycling industry

he monomaterial pouch was developed by Werner & Mertz and the global packaging company Mondi during a four-year project based on Cradle to Cradle® principles. The design objective was to use «reverse engineering,» starting from the end of the product life cycle, and create packaging fit for every stage of the recycling process. With the involvement of all stakeholders along the entire supply chain, it was possible to design packaging perfectly suited to recycling and the circular economy. The development of the stand-up pouch even influenced the design of sorting facilities. Because the pieces of plastic sheeting smaller than an 8.5 by 11-inch paper could not be handled by sorting and recycling equipment, the material was thermally recycled, i.e., incinerated. «Plastic sheeting makes up about 40 percent of the waste in the Yellow Bag and represents enormous but untapped potential! In the sense of «Design for Recycling» it was important to us to develop a stand-up pouch that was not just theoretically recyclable. It also had to ensure practical implementation of the recycling process,» said Immo Sander, head of packaging development at Werner & Mertz. During the years of development work, designers consulted with manufacturers of sorting systems in order to guarantee separate sorting and recycling. The independent Institut Interseroh certified that the stand-up pouch has «very good recyclability that cannot be optimized any further.»

Allies required for further development

The first monomaterial refill pouches are not only in use for the professional division of Werner & Mertz but also in the consumer division: The Frosch brand products have been on retail shelves since November 2019. Werner & Mertz has no intention of resting on its laurels, but is working on bigger plans. In the future the flexible plastic packaging not only will be completely recyclable but also made of recycled materials. When sufficient amounts of packaging go into recycling systems that comply with Design for Recycling guidelines, this packaging solution can be realized with recyclates and spare the use of new materials. «In this chicken or egg situation, we lay the foundation with our pouch and hope for imitators. After all, as far as climate change is concerned, we have no choice but to increase recycling rates significantly,» said Werner & Mertz owner Reinhard Schneider.