By choosing hubergroup you are not just opting for the best quality and service, but also for far-reaching responsibility because our environment and fellow human beings are at the heart of what we do. We are therefore strongly committed to continually working towards increased sustainability and safety in the printing industry through our products and services. For a future with a future.
Committed to sustainability
Let’s make a bigger difference together!
How can we make our world more sustainable? This question plays an important role every day at hubergroup. Because we know that we have a great responsibility towards mankind and nature. We therefore ensure that we reconcile social, economic and ecological needs in order to leave behind a liveable world for future generations. For us, this primarily means using resources sparingly, producing environmentally friendly printing inks and supporting our customers with their sustainability measures. The principle of a circular economy, in which we prevent waste and instead re-use materials in order to protect our environment, therefore plays an important role for hubergroup. We continue to work closely with organisations such as Cradle to Cradle, CEFLEX, INGEDE and EPEA to improve our products and processes even further and increase sustainability in the printing industry. We are also part of Responsible Care. Therefore, we signed the Responsible Care Global Charter which formulates a set of basic principles and obligations for companies in the chemical industry worldwide. Find more details here.
Our production
Taking a responsible approach to the energy, raw materials and water used in production is naturally important to us. Hence, we have built a water treatment unit at our site in India, which enables us to re-use 60 percent of our waste water and we are working on making it possible to recover 100 percent of waste water. Furthermore, when possible, we use recycled materials in our products. For example, in Germany and France we collect the wash water from our partner printing houses and use it for non-GMP-compliant water-based coatings. In this way, we cover up to 24% of our water requirements for coating production. Our material recirculation is therefore at Gold level in accordance with Cradle to Cradle. With our non-food products, we also recycle printing inks that our customers return, for example because they have exceeded their expiry date.
Our products
Whether low-migration or cobalt-free printing inks – hubergroup has already set many ecological standards in the printing industry. In order to minimise the environmental impact of our products, we choose the raw materials for our printing inks carefully and produce a large percentage of the ink components ourselves. In addition to recycled materials, we opt as far as possible for renewable raw materials and greatly favour printing ink components that are recyclable or compostable. We also make sure that the CO2 footprint of our products is kept as low as possible. Numerous Cradle to Cradle, OK Compost and Blauer Engel (Blue Angel) certifications as well as awards for sustainable inks illustrate our commitment to sustainable printing inks.
Our services
Last but not least, we are committed to our services for a more sustainable future. We advise our customers on how they can make their processes more efficient and support them in the product selection process, for example, to make packaging lighter, more efficient and easier to recycle. In addition, we develop innovative methods such as NewV cure, which reduce the energy consumption and waste produced by printing houses.
High quality around the world
That is our promise to you
Being available on each continent, we understand the importance of speaking the “same language” and using efficient global practices.
We were the first production site in Germany, who implemented the ISO 9001 quality management system already in the 1990’s. This was followed by the environmental, the occupational health and safety, the energy and the HACCP management systems.
We ensure the efficiency of our processes, the focus on the customer requirements and also the transparency how we support the environment and how we offer a safe workplace to our employees. You want to know more?
Please read our company policy.
On the safe side
Because product safety is our top priority
Guaranteeing our customers safe and reliable products is of paramount importance to us. In order to ensure the highest safety standards, we have a global product safety team and we look closely at all stages of the production process. Our qualified and specially trained colleagues work at our production sites with raw materials that we carefully select through rigorous criteria and testing. In addition, we check the individual requirements of our customers thoroughly so that we can give them the best advice for choosing their printing ink.
Of course, we guarantee that we comply with the current regulations for your markets and products – including REACH, TSCA, CLP and GHS. But that alone doesn't go far enough for us. In many cases, we set even higher safety standards than required by law – for example, by adhering to the European Printing Ink Association (EuPIA) exclusion policy – and we have drawn up our own Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) guidelines in order to be able to guarantee maximum safety in food packaging. As a member of associations, we participate in discussions in order to actively shape and push forward safety directives for the benefit of people and nature.
A safe workplace for our employees
We see to it
For us, it goes without saying that looking after the health and safety of our employees is par for the course. And not just because our employees are responsible for the success of hubergroup, but also because as a family business we value each individual colleague.
We therefore take an integrated approach to safety and follow comprehensive guidelines for safe working conditions and production processes at our sites all over the world. Of course, we also regularly check that our safety standards are being adhered to and, if necessary, further develop our processes to make the working environment for our employees even safer.
Our social commitment
For a strong community
Supporting the people in our neighbourhood is, in our eyes, the basis for good cooperation and a well-functioning society. That is why we are committed to supporting local organisations and initiatives based near our sites around the world – from sports clubs and nurseries to educational organisations. By doing this, we can help there, where our employees live.
We have developed a very special collaboration with the MAA Foundation. This Indian non-profit organisation is committed to better education in rural areas of India. Currently, half of all 10-year-old children who live in rural regions of the country cannot read and many of the children who live there leave school by the age of 14. hubergroup has worked closely with the organisation for many years and supports numerous projects in order to enable these children to have a better education.
For example, the VIDHYA scholarship programme gives academically able students from financially weak families the opportunity to complete a degree programme that they otherwise wouldn't be able to afford. Approximately 5,000 students each year qualify for this type of scholarship. In addition, hubergroup is also involved with the career counselling programme DISHA, that was launched by the MAA Foundation. This project was initiated because many pupils are not aware of the different career options available to them. This non-profit organisation helps pupils to identify their own strengths and interests in order to make informed career decisions. Through the career counselling event known as DISHA Fest, which takes place in schools, the MAA Foundation and hubergroup have reached out to more than 71,000 pupils in the last few years.