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Sustainability at STAEDTLER

Our aim is to handle the resources of our earth with care and foresight. This is why efficiency plays a major role in our philosophy for sustainable action, for example in the production or logistics of our products. We focus on measures that lie within our own area of responsibility and have an influence on our processes. Our focus is therefore on our manufacturing processes, the materials used, such as plastic and wood, as well as the procurement and transport of raw materials.

Material innovations

From wood chips to pencils

What is used for a long time is especially gentle on our environment and its resources. That’s why we develop our products for long-term use and continuously research new formulations and technologies that make our products even more durable and sustainable.

Made from Upcycled Wood

Thanks to our exceptional production technology, we do not need any wooden boards like in conventional production processes to produce pencils and coloured pencils Made from Upcycled Wood. We use wood chips from sawing and planing processes in the woodworking industry. The grinding and upcycling of these wood chips is characterised by processes. This means that even the smallest wood remains can be reused in high-quality pencils.

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Dry Safe

In order to make our products more durable we developed DRY SAFE technology. Nature served as a role model: Many plants protect their fruits and leaves from drying out with a layer of wax. We have applied this principle to our products. This allows the pens to remain open for days without losing quality.

Sustainability means transparency ...

... that’s why corresponding pictograms make our sustainability aspects visible. All newly launched products for 2022 are already marked. During 2022, 100% of our packaging and materials will be labelled accordingly.

Sustainable packaging “Made in Germany”:
We have already achieved this

We no longer really want to use PVC for our packaging. That’s why we have already completely switched to PET.
From 2025, we will only use full cardboard.

Cardboard packaging

95% of our packaging boxes, such as cases for coloured pencils, have been converted to at least 80% recycled material.

Blister covers

We have switched 100% of our blister covers from PVC to PET. Parts of the product range have already been converted to full cardboard.

Plastic cases

We have switched 100% from PET to 75% rPET (recycled PET) for plastic cases and other packaging forms.

Production and process innovations

By 2030: renewable energy.

Management certifications

The quality and environmental management system of our production sites in Germany and Peru is globally harmonised and certified according to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001.

With both certifications, we want to support our sustainable corporate development. Our quality management system is intended to increase our capacity for quality and the satisfaction of our customers; the environmental management system makes important contributions to the ecological pillar of sustainability.

Social responsibility

STAEDTLER provides up to 50,000 euros of support every year to child rights organisations.

We value each other – inside and outside of the STAEDTLER company.

Whistleblowing system

If you would like to report severe rule or legal violations, please contact our external whistleblowing system STAEDTLER Integrity Line. It offers employees, customers and business partners the opportunity to provide information about unlawful behavior anonymous and transparent. This information can be used to prevent damage to STAEDTLER and its employees. The system is provided by an external service provider to protect the anonymity of the whistleblower.

World Kids Colouring Day on 6 May

STAEDTLER initiated World Kids Colouring Day in 2008 and has since called on children all over the world to draw for a good cause every year.

For every picture they draw, we support children’s aid organisations with one euro – making the little artists big helpers who are committed to children in need.

Sustainable, certified forestry

Cover up to 70% of the wood requirements ourselves.

Wood is essential for our pencils and coloured pencils.
That’s why protecting and securing this raw material in the long term is important to us.

Sustainable forestry on our own plantation in Ecuador

We set up our own plantation in Ecuador, allowing us to oversee production of the wooden boards used to make our pencils. For this purpose, we selected the tree species according to ecological and economic criteria, adhere to strict environmental standards in the cultivation conditions, take into account the existing flora and fauna and will continue to process the wood ourselves in the future.

The raw material wood

Wood is the very heart of all our pencils and is therefore essential for STAEDTLER. It is therefore a matter of course for us to ensure the sustainable production of this raw material, even outside our own plantation. We already only use wood from sustainable forestry for the production of all wood-cased pencils. We attach great importance to securing resources in the long term. In addition, we keep relevant ecological aspects in mind in our in-house production and supply chain analysis.

All the woods we use are PEFC or FSC™ certified.

Educational support

Encouraging individual skills from an early age.

Ideas and knowledge are central to our future.
That’s why we support even the smallest children in developing their strengths with age-appropriate products.

Early childhood education

With the age-appropriate product concept, we support children in the various phases of their rapid development. Writing, drawing, painting and crafting skills are the foundations for maintaining human cognitive and motor skills. This philosophy is the cornerstone of STAEDTLER, and consequently we give children at all development levels the right pen or pencil.

Our product range of art and craft materials for kids

Our brochure about Sustainability with more information can be downloaded here:

STAEDTLER sustainability brochure 2023