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Find out what our CEO Jakob A. Mosser says about Vienna as the packaging hotspot, sustainability in our industry and the upsides and challenges of plastic packaging in an article in the Austrian Business Magazine "Wirtschaftsnachrichten", issue 12/19 available to download in German here.

From Chicago to Vienna: Packaging manufacturer Coveris reinvents itself

Since new CEO Jakob A. Mosser took over in 2018, international packaging provider Coveris has repositioned itself strategically in an innovation-led process. The company relocated its headquarters to Vienna, a hub of the packaging industry, and focused on product development.

“The key ingredients for development are knowledge and experts, and Vienna has more of those than anywhere else in this sector,” is how Mosser explains the decision. At the new headquarters in Vienna, the company has succeeded in putting together a strategically effective team: almost 80 percent of the staff are from the industry – specialists, experts and managers, all with in-depth knowledge and years of experience in the sector. Sustainable change is only possible with knowledge and expertise, ideally from a base in Vienna, a city with an above-average density of experts in the sector and where many of the big players are already located.

In our hands every day

“Our products are part of people’s everyday lives, even though not everyone is aware of it. Our packaging keeps food fresh and medical products sterile in simple, user-friendly and, in some cases, even resealable packaging,” explains Coveris CEO Jakob A. Mosser. The packaging products have to meet top quality standards and comply with regulations and quality criteria, especially in the medical and food packaging sector, to guarantee 100 percent product safety for consumers. The complex packaging material comprises several layers, each of which fulfils a special function, and is used in food, animal feed, drinks, industrial, agricultural, household, toiletries and medical applications. With over 4,200 employees and a total of 25 locations in the EMEA region, Coveris develops and produces high-complexity packaging solutions that are sold virtually worldwide.

Responsible resource Management

“Sustainability is definitely the topic of our era. The environment and climate motivate us to reconsider how we use resources. Our job is to protect what needs protecting, to minimise waste and trash – especially when it comes to food. At the same time, we have to make our packaging easier to recycle, enabling us to re-use the plastic material as often as possible. In this context, our aim is to create innovative, realistic and comprehensive packaging concepts with our partners, in order to deliver sustainable products to consumers,” says Mosser. The company has established dedicated future labs to help it achieve this goal. There, specialised teams work on new packaging solutions, for example based on easy-to-recycle mono-materials. In many cases, plastic packaging is actually the more sustainable solution, especially in terms of CO2 emissions in manufacturing and transportation, or recyclability. “We work in an exciting and modern industry that is constantly changing. And that is precisely what motivates us to get better every day,” concludes Jakob A Mosser.

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Photo: Andi Bruckner

Picture underline: Since new CEO Jakob A. Mosser took over in 2018, international packaging provider Coveris has repositioned itself strategically in an innovation-led process.