Vienna-based Starlinger, a machinery manufacturer and producer of woven plastic bag production plants, has released a new sustainability report covering the financial year 2023/2024.
The report, the company’s second following the 2022/2023 inaugural publication, provides information about Starlinger’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy and evaluates progress across a range of measures. It includes detailed analyses of energy consumption, emissions, and waste generation in the company.
In 2023/2024, Starlinger consumed 10,720 MWh of energy, 32% from natural gas, 31% from purchased renewables, 14% from wood chips, 11% from diesel, 5% from purchased fossil energy, 3% from self-consumption renewables, 2% from district heating, and 1% from petrol.
Summing up the biomass and renewable sources, 48% of Starlinger’s energy consumption was covered by non-fossil energy.
The company’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions totalled 1,179 tonnes of CO2 equivalent.
The sustainability report also highlights how Starlinger passes on energy-saving gains to its customers by lowering the energy demand of its machines.
“We see it as our task to design, construct, and refine our machines in such a way that they can manufacture sustainable and resource-saving products,” the report reads.
For example, the recoSTAR PET bottle-to-bottle recycling machine boosts energy savings of 25% compared to the previous model. On the starEX tape line, Starlinger reduced energy requirement by 10% to 15% by developing the eqoSTRETCH module that completely encloses the heated godets. The machine is also equipped with a heat pump for heat recovery.
To push against a throw away culture, the Austrian machine manufacturer makes its spare parts available indefinitely, allowing customers to obtain spare parts even decades after purchase.
As for waste, in 2023/2024 Starlinger produced 1,433 tonnes, of which 16% was plastic waste. The company also collected 13,000 PET bottles that were transferred directly to a recycling company in Austria.
The CSR department at Starlinger is headed by Ilona Wimmer since August 2024. Having worked for the company for over 20 years, Wimmer took over from Clarissa Graf, who has built up and managed the CSR and sustainability department at Starlinger since 2019.
The next step is to prepare for sustainability reporting as part of the EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).
“In the coming months, we will focus intensively on data collection and data management, among other things, so that we can present the sustainability report for our 2025/26 annual financial statements in compliance with the law,” said Wimmer.
The law requires large companies operating in the EU to report on sustainability. Some non-EU companies will also have to report if they generate over € 150 million on the EU market.
The first companies will have to apply the new rules for the first time in the 2024 financial year, for reports published in 2025.