Werner & Mertz GmbH

Werner & Mertz is a family company now in the fifth generation. It manufactures products for cleaning and care for bulk and private consumers. In 2019, the owner Reinhard Schneider was honoured with the German Environmental Award for having opened the way for environmental standards to be established at an ever-higher level in a whole economic sector.

Werner & Mertz aims to make products, production, and packaging as environment-friendly as possible. The company for example uses regional vegetable oils as raw materials for its detergents and cleaning agents. To spread this idea Werner & Mertz started the European Surfactants Initiative aiming at companies beyond its own industry.

In addition to this, Werner & Mertz practices closed-loop plastic recycling and consistent recycling of used plastic for new packaging. To promote directly using plastic waste to produce new packaging, Reinhard Schneider started the Recyclate Initiative with partners from the fields of industry, retail, and NGOs that is open to all potential participants.

The work of Werner & Mertz mainly contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals 4, 8, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17: