A person applies tesa tape to the front tray of a black multifunction printer; two rolls of tesa tape are nearby on a white surface. (This text has been generated by AI)

Accelerating the transition to a circular economy

Sustainability

How do we transform waste into a valuable resource? By making sure all materials get reused or recycled—within manufacturing processes and when products reach the end of their useful life! In 2024, tesa teams worldwide took decisive action to support this switch to a circular economy.

Imagine a world without waste. At tesa, we’re determined to make that vision a reality. Our teams reduce waste, reuse materials and enable recycling to accelerate the transition to a circular economic model where all material re-enters the economic cycle and as little as possible gets thrown away.

By 2030, we want zero waste from our production activities to end up in landfill disposal. In order to use materials efficiently and recycle them wherever possible, our plants are working to minimize production-related raw material losses in all process steps. In this context tesa is investing heavily in the further development of solvent-free and energy-efficient production technologies. To this end, the expansion of further production capacities with solvent-free technologies is planned. The plants, on which we currently coat with the help of solvents are to be technically upgraded in such a way that the solvents are completely recovered at the end of the process and remain in the cycle.

On top of this, tesa innovators are developing products that can be reused or recycled after completing their intended purpose. These actions are transforming the footprint of our company. And tesa’s global team took some big forward steps during 2024.

Fostering circularity by collecting and reusing benzine

A large industrial facility with multiple metal pipes, tanks, and cylindrical exhaust stacks, next to a landscaped area with green bushes and plants under a blue sky. All bonding and sealing applications throughout the facility utilize tesa tape. (This text has been generated by AI)

In 2024, we made further exciting progress to shrink the footprint of our production facilities by increasing the reuse of our recovered benzine. Benzine is a rapid-drying solvent that is commonly used in the production process of adhesive tapes. At the tesa plant in Hamburg, recovered benzine is used for mixing and diluting. In its processes, the Hamburg plant was able to identify a further 1,200 tons in which fresh benzine can be replaced with regenerated benzine without any loss of quality. The first qualifications for affected products have already been completed, meaning that the first 147 tons of fresh benzine have been saved. By the end of 2025, the plant's regenerated benzine quota from the currently 37 percent is to be significantly increased: By the end of 2025, we expect to reuse more than 75 percent of the benzine at this production site.

Recyclable strapping tape

More than 7,000 products make up tesa’s portfolio, with additional innovations joining that list every year. Our more than 600 experts in product and technology development work every day to bring innovative products to the market that not only meet current requirements and expectations, but often exceed them and set new standards, always keeping sustainable principles in mind—from switching to bio-based raw materials through to enabling users to recycle all materials at the end of a product’s life. And we can prove it.

tesa® 64295 is our first ever adhesive tape that is certified as recyclable. The strapping tape is used to secure loose parts of household appliances during transportation. It meets criteria for recyclability (see infobox). And because its backing material is made of paper instead of plastic this means the tape can enter recycling processes together with other paper materials.

Transforming the footprint of our company

Our work in 2024 moved us closer to our vision of a world without waste. Our processes consume less and reuse more. Our products contain more recycled content and fit into recycling processes more easily. Those are important contributions to our goal of accelerating the transition to a circular economy. And we’re determined to keep transforming the footprint of our company until all materials re-enter the economic cycle and as little as possible gets thrown away.

The recyclability standard PTS-RH 021:2012

The standard PTS-RH 021:2012 (opens in a new window or tab) is a method for testing how easily paper and cardboard products can enter recycling processes. It was developed by the Papiertechnische Stiftung (PTS) (opens in a new window or tab), a research institute for the German paper industry. Tests involve measuring the percentage of a product that can be pulped and reused to make new paper, while also checking the purity of recycled material. In this way, the standard supports credible claims about recyclability.

Find out more about tesa’s sustainability strategy

We do: Push circularity

tesa will contribute to the circular economy and use resources as carefully as possible. First and foremost, this involves avoiding waste. Where that is not possible, we reduce it. Where waste is unavoidable, we seek to reuse or recycle it by various means. By 2025, we want to eliminate all landfill disposal of production-related waste.

tesa will further invest significantly in the further development of solvent-free and energy-efficient production technology and capacity. The facilities on which we currently coat with solvents are to be technically upgraded so that the solvents are fully recovered at the end of the process and thus remain in the cycle.