Reducing Waste

In 2021 our Zhermack GmbH Germany marketing and sales team, based in Marl a. Duemmer, committed to saving paper through digitalization. The team at Zhermack GmbH Germany is responsible for selling high-quality medical products for clinical dental practice supplies, orthodontics and dental laboratories, and historically the marketing, communications and sales team heavily relied on printed catalogues, flyers and product information to reach their many customers.

To increase the sustainable credentials of the site, last year site leadership team implemented a 20/80 rule – meaning that 80% of all marketing materials had to become digitalized. The program has been welcomed by employees and customers alike, and the team is on track to become almost paperless within the next year.

We switched our instructions for use (IFU) from paper to digital, reducing paper waste by about 1 ton.

In October 2020, we switched to recycling all titanium chips, previously an industrial waste product generated from the milling process at our Tokyo site. A precious metals recycling services provider now collects the chips and recycles them into other productivity uses.

We reduced total waste from 2,066 tons in 2017 to 1,658 tons in 2019. In 2020, it was reduced even more to 970 tons. Waste at the site is divided into hazardous and non-hazardous waste, then classified as waste for recycling and waste for disposal. To achieve a significantly improved recycling rate, waste separation is monitored. The rate has increased from 95.3% in 2017 to 98.2% in 2020.

Our Bensheim site has been certified in accordance with EMAS since 1996. EMAS (Eco-Management and Audit Scheme) is a European Union environmental management scheme through which companies can improve their environmental performance. It goes beyond the requirements of the environmental management standard ISO 14 001 and promotes best practice in environmentally sustainable operations.

As well as EMAS, Dentsply Sirona Germany is also a member of the Hessian Environmental Alliance which works to reinforce members’ responsibility for the environment, to reduce bureaucracy and encourage environmental protection. 

In 2015, the Bensheim site established ambitious energy-related saving targets through the “Learning Energy Efficiency Network Frankfurt Energy Rhine Main” environmental agreement, along with nine other employers in the region.

The Bensheim site sets itself targets within the framework of Dentsply Sirona’s environmental management system, which is published online in the annually updated environmental statement. One of these goals is to increase the use of renewable electricity. Usage at the site increased from 55% in 2019 to 65% in 2020. Bensheim also achieved a 28.8 MT reduction of hazardous waste in 2019, and a 15.1 MT reduction in 2020.  

In 2019 an advancement in the cooling production process eliminated water consumption. 

Since 2021, our manufacturing facility is using sustainable practices to recycle a variety of plastics and polymers used to make several Dentsply Sirona products, such as ProTaper files and K-files.

On average, the facility produces around six tonnes of ABS polymer and polyamide PA66 plastic waste per year. 100% of this waste is recycled and used by other companies as raw material to produce other goods, such as using the ABS polymer to produce sustainable garden furniture. We also reground the polyamide PA66 up to four times on site so it can be re-used throughout our production line. When the polyamide PA66 no longer meets our standards framework for use, the material is used as a raw material by other companies to produce other goods.

The recycling program is one of many sustainability initiatives at our Ballaigues site, which owns the MINERGIE® label for low-energy-consumption buildings and the highest possible use of renewable energy. Between 2018 and 2020, the site also successfully completed a three-year carbon emissions reduction plan that resulted in a reduction of 326 tonnes of CO2 and a 13% increase in energy efficiency.

In manufacturing, hard paper is now recycled, and recycling stations in restrooms now have more sorting options for different waste types such as paper and plastic. Single-use paper cups have been replaced with recyclable options.

A program to reduce hazardous waste saw the site categorized as a Small Quantity Generator (SQG) in 2019, and then a Very Small Quantity Generator (VSQG) in 2020. Since the program began in 2017, annual hazardous waste has decreased from 1,775lb (805kg) to 335lb (152kg) in 2020. As a result of these initiatives, we have also seen a consistent trend of reduced waste costs.