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.

70% of the material used in our products and packaging will be recycled or bio-based by 2030.

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.

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.
A roll of brown adhesive tesa tape, with part of the tesa tape unrolled, is positioned upright on a white background. A green earth logo featuring tesa tape is in the top left corner. The inner ring of the tesa tape shows the tesa brand. (This text has been generated by AI)


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.