LEONHARD KURZ makes a strong statement for responsibility and environmental awareness at the Circular Valley Convention

Fürth/Germany, February 04, 2025: Eye-catching, captivating, convincing: This is how products and packaging have to be today. At the POS, the aim is to catch everyone's eye. LEONHARD KURZ has been demonstrating for many years how breathtaking finishes, creative design and environmental awareness go hand in hand. At the Circular Valley Convention, which will take place at the Areal Böhler in Düsseldorf from March 12 - 13, 2025, the specialist for surface finishing and world market leader in hot stamping will show that success at the POS and sustainability are not mutually exclusive but belong together. The high-quality finishes from KURZ not only impress with their quality, uniqueness and breathtaking effects - they are also a strong statement of responsibility and environmental awareness. In addition to innovative finishing technologies and new products that impressively demonstrate the company's environmentally conscious responsibility, KURZ is also represented at the Circular Economy Event of the Year with a specialist lecture. Under the title ‘What does sustainable embellishment mean and how do we get there?’, Ralph Hopfensitz, Executive Senior Vice President Global Technology and CTO, will describe the company's path to an exciting, sustainable future. "The topic of sustainability plays a very central role for us at LEONHARD KURZ. As the market leader in surface embellishment, we are aware of our global responsibility. We are doing everything we can to become even more sustainable. Product innovations and continuous development towards a circular economy are essential for us," explains Ralph Hopfensitz.

Responsible, sustainable, safe

LEONHARD KURZ provides a comprehensive insight into its sustainability activities at the Circular Valley Convention. In order to conserve resources and reduce waste, the company has reduced the thickness of the PET carrier material from 12 µm to 10 µm and 6 µm respectively. The PET carrier, like KURZ transfer products as a whole, is free from harmful substances and heavy metals in accordance with the EU chemicals regulation REACH; certified ingredients and raw materials stand for sustainable and safe quality that protects people and the environment. Compliance with and monitoring of manufacturing criteria and processes are particularly important to the surface finishing specialist. This is how KURZ combines brilliantly finished packaging design with environmentally friendly production.

PET-free end products

KURZ will show visitors live on site how the company assumes responsibility along the entire value chain. For example, the high-quality finishing products from LEONHARD KURZ have hardly any influence on the recyclability of products. The PET carrier material is simply removed after the solvent-free, dry and energy-efficient application process, while the high-quality finishes remain on the product in the form of a wafer-thin layer of coating. The packaging is recyclable, deinkable or compostable after use.

Destination: Closed loop

With the KURZ take-back and recycling program RECOSYS^® 2.0, the company is opening up new perspectives in terms of sustainability. Thanks to RECOSYS^® 2.0, PET production residues can be processed into recycled PET (rPET for short). The RECOSYS^® rPET raw material can then be further processed and used in a wide range of applications - for example in the production of textile yarns, for surface embellishment or for finishing protective clothing. In this way, resources can be conserved and production residues kept to a minimum. The company takes a big step towards its goal of the closed loop.

An overview of LEONHARD KURZ's comprehensive sustainability activities can be found here: https://www.kurz-world.com/en/sustainability/