Petzl - Impact report 2024

Contents

Combining eco-design

and savings

This innovation has also made it possible to optimise logistics

while making environmental and economic savings.

Thanks to the new design, an additional layer can be added to

each pallet, reducing the number of trucks needed for transport.

With hundreds of thousands of helmets, these savings mean a

considerable reduction in our carbon footprint.

Another important detail is that the sheet of kraft paper costs

much less than the plastic protection, providing not only

environmental but also economic benef its.

The last mile

With this new advance plastic consumption in packaging has

fallen even further to 10 tonnes by the end of 2024

The next stage will be minigrips and polybags the plastic bags

used for spare parts and some accessories as well as the

plastics used for protection during transport corresponding to

around 1000 products

As is so often the case its this last mile that is the most dif f icult

The biggest obstacles are the number of products concerned

and the alternatives available on the market Cellulosebased

solutions are being considered

Our teams are ready for the challenges ahead

The fruit of 2 years of research

The packaging solution for these helmets is a stackable open

box, through which the top of the helmet protrudes. “Stackability

saves 30% of volume, which is important for products

transported on pallets, in very large quantities,” explains Lucas,

who joined Petzl 3 years ago after working with a cardboard

manufacturer for several years.

The transparent plastic protection, which until now had

covered the visible part of the helmet, protected it from dust

and scratches, while making it possible to see the colour. “The

challenge was to f ind an alternative that ensured optimum

protection and stackability, without compromising on quality,”

explains Lucas. They successfully resolved this technical

challenge, through two years of research and painstaking

experimentation and optimisation.

“We started with an ideation phase, followed by prototyping

and costing. The f inal solution chosen is the one that meets

the requirements. Industrial and laboratory tests provide

supplementary information to support our choice,” explains

Lucas.

“It was a big team ef fort, coordinated by a product range project

manager with signif icant involvement from packaging, industrial

operations, quality and purchasing,” adds Thomas.

The solution adopted for the packaging of VERTEX and

STRATO helmets is a removable sheet of highly resistant kraft

paper made of virgin f ibres, which is 100% recyclable. As for the

cardboard box, it has been reinforced and opened at the sides,

so that you can still see the colour of the helmet

Measurable progress

For these professional helmets we went from 12 tonnes of

plastic to 0 which corresponds to CO2 savings of around 92

tonnes every year points out Thomas And the team is very

proud of it Performance is tracked using internal tools that

accurately document progress analysing the reduction in

plastic used the carbon impact avoided and logistical gains

Regular assessments are carried out to validate technical

choices and guide the next stages of the transition They help

to mobilise and support collective ef forts to gradually improve

design practices

Rapid and spectacular reduction

In 2021, Petzl’s packaging included 80 tonnes of plastic every

year Headlamp bulb packaging was redesigned f irst because

of its volume Starting with this product range which is well

known by users has made for an impact that is both tangible

and symbolic Using recyclable materials such as cardboard

it has been possible to cut the quantity of plastic used in Petzl

packaging by 56 tonnes

This breakthrough has paved the way for wider consideration

of other product ranges such as the VERTEX and STRATO

professional helmets which until now have been protected by

a thermoformed plastic liner made from 25 recycled PET

representing 12 tonnes of plastic a year

Five years ago, we embarked on an ambitious

project to eliminate plastic from all our packaging.

This is a green objective that goes beyond a

simple technical challenge and speaks volumes

about our intrapreneurial spirit We caught up with

Lucas Arnaud Packaging Project Manager and

Thomas Marchand Publishing and Packaging

Manager to hear more about this collective quest

for innovation and sustainability

Packaging: a new step

towards zero plastic

Old pack

New pack

Lucas Arnaud

Packaging project manager