Automation group ABB presented Kiefel GmbH with the international European Value Provider Award in the "Sustainability" category yesterday. This recognizes the development achievement of the NATUREFORMER KFT 90 machine, on which products made from natural fibers can be formed.

"We are very pleased to be the first company to win this award in the sustain-ability category," says Thomas Halletz, CEO of KIEFEL GmbH, at the award ceremony in the company's own technology center. "This underlines the great innovative strength that underlies our technologies."

Andrea Cassoni, managing director of the General Industry division at ABB, says, "As a mechanical engineering company, Kiefel is exemplary in terms of sustainability. The technology of the KFT 90 is an example of this, because the machines can be used to produce packaging from renewable and biodegradable raw materials or plant waste — combined with the highest possible energy and resource efficiency."

In certain fields of application, the packaging can be an alternative to conventional plastic packaging. In 2020, Kiefel was the only German company to win the award from a total of four winners, back then in the “Outstanding Performance” category.

Various Building Blocks for More Sustainability

“We have always attached great importance to the most energy-saving and resource-saving technologies in our machines. In the last two years, however, we have integrated the sustainability aspect even more into our actions,” says Cornelia Frank, head of sustainability at Kiefel. One result was the expansion of material processing expertise from polymers to natural fibers and the introduction of the associated new machine technology for fiber thermoforming within two years.

With the KFT 90, Kiefel was the only machine manufacturer to make it into the finalists of the renowned German Sustainability Award for Design in December. The award recognizes groundbreaking contributions to the transformation into a sustainable future and bases its criteria on the goals of the 2030 Agenda.