The plastics and rubber industry in Germany

The plastics and rubber industry is one of the highest-turnover sectors in Germany. Nearly 293,000 employees in about 1,700 German companies produce and process plastic and rubber goods - plastics machinery manufacturing and plastics recycling are also part of the industry, with production generating by far the largest share of turnover at about €58 billion (Statista).

The most important customer for plastics in Germany is the packaging industry. In addition, plastics and rubber goods are also used in a variety of ways in the construction industry and in the automotive and electrical industries.

Certifications with GUTcert

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Extensive national and international experience in certification in the plastics industry

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Integrated expert audits for a wide range of industry standards

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Fair offers without small print - no hidden and unnecessary certification costs

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Personal support from a single source

Roller with plastic bags, control of car tyres, plastic pallets

Our service for the plastics industry

A smoothly functioning quality management system not only secures the trust of your customers through consistently good products, it also enables you to optimise your existing business processes in such a way that freedom is created to develop new ideas. And this is particularly important in the plastics industry as a supplier to many branches of industry with constantly increasing quality and innovation pressure!

This is a good reason for ISO 9001 certification, which explicitly addresses topics that promote innovation, such as strategic opportunities and risks and knowledge management, so that no aspect of your expertise is lost.

For companies involved in supply chains in the automotive, rail or aviation industries, certification to the industry standards IATF 16949, IRIS (ISO TS 22163) or EN 9100 is also another way to demonstrably meet the high quality requirements in these areas.

Offer of the GUTcert Academy

Seminars on the topic of quality management

An ISO 14001-certified or EMAS-validated environmental management system forms the basis for the continuous improvement of your environmental performance and helps to permanently reduce running costs through the economical use of raw materials and energy: a plus point in an industry that is particularly raw material- and energy-intensive - whether in the production, processing or recycling of plastics.

And your reputation on the market is also strengthened if you can credibly demonstrate that you are systematically addressing the issue of protecting people and the environment: Your marketing will benefit in corporate communications.

With an energy management system according to ISO 50001, potential savings can be identified and energy sources can be used more efficiently. This not only saves costs: a certified system protects you from the complex legislation.

State benefits and tax refunds, such as the special equalisation scheme (BesAR) under the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) and the successor regulation to the peak equalisation scheme (SpaEfV), are also linked to the operation of a systematic EnMS according to ISO 50001, an environmental management system according to EMAS or (for small and medium-sized enterprises) alternative systems.

As an accredited certification body with a wide range of approvals, we issue certificates that not only meet the standard requirements, but also ensure recognition by state authorities.

Achieving climate neutrality in the plastics industry involves a great deal of technical and technological effort and investment: Reducing energy consumption, switching to renewable energies, technological innovations and offsetting unavoidable emissions - a major challenge.

In order to develop a functioning climate strategy in the company, a solid greenhouse gas balance (GHG) is needed. If a company's own operational emissions are recorded, the Corporate Carbon Footprint is a suitable tool: The main CO2 emissions are identified, you can determine mitigation measures and implement cost reduction plans. If individual products are to be assessed for their emission intensity, the Product Carbon Footprint is the best choice. Background information can also be found at www.climateneutrality.com.

Occupational safety and health is a factor that strengthens your credibility and, properly communicated, creates trust among customers and the public. Because well-functioning systematic management systems for safety and health at work (SGAMS) such as ISO 45001 contribute significantly to avoiding accident and illness-related absences in the workforce and thus to ensuring that your processes run smoothly.

As a member of the international AFNOR Group, GUTcert offers you these certifications worldwide, either individually or in combination, e.g. with environmental or quality management.

Evidence of sustainability-related performance is increasingly becoming mandatory criteria in major tenders. The awarding of contracts in the value chain in Germany and Europe also often depends on what the company achieves and how transparently it communicates this.

The motivation for an audited report arises for listed companies on the one hand directly from the reporting obligation of the CSR-RUG or for small and medium-sized companies indirectly, as they are part of the supply chain of large companies. The plastics industry supplies many of the large companies that have to report according to CSR-RUG - therefore the public commitment to sustainability is increasingly part of daily business here as well.

A verified sustainability report is a proven tool to present economic, environmental and social corporate performance to business partners, customers, NGOs and the public.

A sustainability report is also an advantage when it comes to filling out evaluations for supply chains that are common in Germany, such as EcoVadis.

Integrated management systems

ISO management systems can be linked well with each other. If the different requirements are combined in an integrated system approach, this minimises the overall effort required to set up and maintain the entire management system.

Through process-oriented auditing of several management systems at the same time, a variety of synergy effects can be utilised. Price advantages of up to 50% compared to separate processing of the individual procedures are not uncommon. Combining audit dates, for example, reduces the time required to a single on-site audit, the duration of which is significantly shorter than the sum of the individual audits.

Our experts on site

Our qualified auditors have years of industry experience and speak your language!

Selected publications

Be smart: Benefit from the experience of our customers and concentrated GUTcert knowledge in white papers, presentations and guides on various topics.

Study on energy management in the plastics industry

Energy management in the plastics industry


Survey of various GUTcert audit reports: challenges of companies in the plastics industry with energy management systems (EnMS) - with a special focus on the added value of the audit for the customer.

Guide from energy management to climate management

Survey of variGuide from energy management to climate management


Do you already have an energy management system according to ISO 50001? Then you don't have far to go to climate management: our guide shows you how to do this in a structured way - over 5 steps in 14 steps. - with a special focus on the added value of the audit for the customer.

Which certifications are particularly relevant for the plastics industry?