The Verband Metallverpackungen e.V. (VMV) has elected a new board of directors.

At the association’s annual meeting in Frankfurt am Main, the delegates elected Hugo Sebastian Trappmann (Blechwarenfabrik Limburg) as the new chairman.

Michael Fürst (Kleemann Metallverpackungen) was elected vice chairman.

Thomas Stock (Pano) was also elected as a new member of the board of directors.

Andreas Faßbender (Greif) was reappointed to his office as second vice chairman as were Eckhard Bihlmaier (Bihlmaier Metallverpackungen) and Ulf Riedel (Rauh) as members of the board.

“I would like to thank the members for their trust and I am looking forward to our upcoming collaboration,” stated Hugo Trappmann.

“In addition to the current energy and supply-chain challenges, sustainability is and will be the biggest topic in the packaging industry and when it comes to handling natural resources responsibly, recyclable metal packaging has always been the best solution,”

Trappmann continued: “Metal packaging is made of either steel or aluminium. Both materials can be recycled again and again without loss of quality. Metal used as a paint can today can be turned into a bicycle tomorrow, and later even a car part or back into packaging.

“It’s a raw material that isn’t simply used once and discarded, but rather continues to be useful long into the future. This conserves resources, saves energy and reduces emissions. These advantages need to be advertised more – for the benefit of our industry and the environment.”

In Germany, the recycling rate for metal packing is consistently over 90%, and in Europe, packaging made of packaging steel leads with a rate of over 85%.

Michael Fürst commented regarding the challenges these political decisions have created for the packing industry: “With the European Green Deal, the EU is sending a clear signal in favour of a comprehensive circular economy and the packaging industry plays a very important role.

“This is evident in the legal initiatives which require that packaging be recyclable and that it has a high recycling rate,”

While other packaging materials are now faced with considerable difficulties, metal packaging has long since met these goals.

Fürst continued: “We want to increase our communication with political and administrative bodies about how well rigid metal packaging can support the transition to a real circular economy.”

The association now plans to focus its work even more on the topics of sustainability and the circular economy.