FAQs

Products, which are completely free of plastics or which have a plastic free packaging or content and which have passed the laboratory test successfully. The flustix RECYCLED trustmark certifies products, components and raw materials that contain recycled plastics or are made completely of them. flustix RECYCLED is issued on the basis of a certification program by our partner DIN CERTCO. Here, an audit process forms the basis for a successful certification. These products are certified with flustix:

•  Certified products: flustix PLASTIC FREE
•  Certified products: flustix RECYCLED

The four different flustix PLASTIC FREE trustmarks distinguish products that do not contain any plastic in the overall product, in the packaging and / or in the product / content, and thus offer consumers security when shopping.  Contamination of the products by environmental influences or during the manufacturing process as well as residues that are sometimes technically unavoidable can not be completely ruled out. For more information, see the “definition of plastic free”. Consumer demand is intended to encourage companies to use plastic – a valuable material – sustainably in both the development and manufacture of goods and / or to replace it with ecologically sensible alternatives. in order to avoid plastic waste worldwide.

The magenta colored trustmark flustix RECYCLED can be used to certify products, components and raw materials that consist entirely or partially of recycled plastic, read more about this here: flustix RECYCLED

All over. The products certified by flustix are sold online and offline through all official sales channels. The flustix RECYCLED mark is also suitable in the B2B area. For example, suppliers of recycled plastic or semi-finished products with recycled material have their goods certified in order to make the origin and the type of recyclate (PCR / PIR / MIX) transparent to their customers.

The flustix initiative was founded in 2016 by Julia and Malte Biss in Berlin in the interests of environmental protection and aims to provide the end consumer with a clear orientation when shopping by clearly marking plastic-free products and / or low-plastic products. In its creation, the sustainability label flustix has received support in the form of discussions and discussions from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety and the Federal Environment Agency in the development of the basic concept. Further we receive continous support from our testing laboratory partner, the WESSLING GmbH. We are working closely with our independent and reputed partners in awarding the flustix trustmark, controlling compliance with all standards, and fighting abuse. We flustix founders, Julia and Malte Biss, are not yet plastic-free with our three children. This is almost impossible nowadays – that’s why we are aiming for a constructive environmental protection which, through innovative products, extends the plastic-free offer, and we can develop towards plastic freedom. We try to avoid plastic where possible and useful. The material plastic finds in many areas, such as research, medicine, safety and transport, quite meaningful and vital use and is now indispensable. With our initiative, we want to grow into a plastic-free future. Until then we promote a responsible use at state of the art. This is our approach to deal with the genius and everlasting material: plastic.

flustix verifies and certifies with its accredited partners in the basis of ECHAs definition (incl. ISO/TR 21960:2020 Plastics – Environmental aspects – State of knowledge and methodologies), which is so far the only internationally respected and followed definition of microplastic. It refers to solid, water-insoluble plastic particles which are smaller than five millimetres, based on the longest dimension of the plastic particle, as well as solid, water-insoluble plastic particles which are smaller than five millimetres, based on the diameter of the plastic particle fiber. For flustix this also includes so-called bioplastics, obtained from renewable resources. Following the ECHA definition, liquid and water-soluble plastics are not considered, because they are hardly detected analytically in a qualitatively or quantitatively binding manner according to the current state of technology and therefore a legally binding claim can’t be guaranteed yet. As soon as research on this topic has been optimized, flustix will also include these materials in its certification programs.

Not every plastic ends up in the bin. On the beach we lose our flip-flops, in the park we forget the PET bottle or the candy packaging. Sooner or later, this garbage gets into our rivers and seas and is mistaken for food by birds or other animals. The problem: plastic does not rot. Larger plastic parts are a danger to marine life and birds, which are caught in the garbage and die, as you can see it on our doorstep on Helgoland with the basal boobies. Smaller pieces of plastic are confused by the animals with food until they starve to death with a full stomach. In addition, chemicals such as softeners and hardeners from the plastics. These are harmful to humans and animals. Incidentally, not even 45 percent of the plastic waste generated in Germany is recycled (2015 figures) and per capita consumption is still rising. The majority is still used for energy purposes – burned because it is more economical and / or the packaging consists of low-quality mixed plastics.

Packagings

Perhaps the most obvious use of plastic is single-use packaging. These include, among other things, deposit-free plastic bottles, chips or other bags, films and / or other disposable containers. Most of these consist of mixed plastics, which can hardly be recycled at all.
Plastic around and in food

Most foods are packed in plastic. Chemicals such as plasticizers and many other substances dissolve out of the package and enter, e.g. on oily and fatty foods over. Added to this is the microplastic, plastic particles smaller than five millimeters. These drift in the sea, are confounded by seafood and birds with food and eaten. The chemicals in the plastic go into the body of the animals and come back to us. With animals that are consumed as a whole (for example, mussels) or high-quality sea salts and even through drinking water, the plastic waste is now being absorbed directly by us, the human being.
Plastic in cosmetics

At least 500 tons of plastic pass through our German outlets unfiltered into our drinking water cycle every year. Shower gel, toothpaste, shampoos and scrubs mostly contain plastic (microplastic or liquid plastics). Often, the microparticles should enhance the cleaning effect of the products. But also as opacifiers, fillers or as a substitute for vegetable oils, plastics are used in cosmetics and make-up. Here are just a selection of products that use microplastic and liquid plastics:

–  Cleaning products: scrubs, toothpaste, shower gel, shampoo, make-up remover
–  Skin care products: body lotion, sunscreen, facial, hand and foot cream, shaving cream
–  Make-up: lipstick, make-up, eye shadow, mascara

Plastic clothing – fleece, polyester and co.

Also, our clothing contains more and more plastics, including polyester, nylon and elastans. A fleece garment can lose up to 2,000 fibers in each wash, which can be discharged into the drinking water cycle or into the sea via the wastewater without being filtered. Scientists have detected polyester and acrylic fibers in the sand at 80 beaches on all continents. The closer the samples were taken to large cities, the higher was the burden of plastic waste.

The littering of our planet, because plastic lasts forever: if we do not collect it, it remains in nature and scatters. Even in the Antarctic, in the “still” eternal ice, just 30 years old plastic from Germany has just been detected. Most of the lost plastic waste ends up in the sea. Due to the ocean currents, five particularly large garbage strudels have formed worldwide, the so-called “garbage patches”. The biggest is the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” (four times the size of France). Scientists suspect several million tons of plastic alone in this one whirlpool. Whether in the sea or on land, plastic is increasingly becoming a health threat to humans and animals. Present and future generations are affected by premature puberty, chalk disease, malformations and – in newborns and other as yet incomplete research on diseases directly related to our current inflationary plastic consumption.

People trust certification marks on products: The data collected by a TNS Infratest-Study shows that 80 percent of Germans are more likely to buy a certified product and are willing to spend significantly more money on it.They base their purchasing decisions on seals – a seal like flustix creates trust in products and brands and thus also in the manufacturer. The Flustix seal on the product demonstrates that a manufacturer, a company, is addressing the challenge of the future, giving the product a corresponding image and giving the manufacturer a sustainable corporate philosophy in its use of resources.

In addition, flustix-certified products benefit from a strong media and public presence, because the media attention and the social commitment to the plastic waste problem is immense. The recent study by TNS Infratest On behalf of FLUSTX, 92% of Germans believe that products and packaging generally contain too much plastic. Up to 88 percent of Germans already pay attention when shopping to avoid plastic packaging waste and would also spend more money on plastic-free products. You can find the whole study here.

Many people reject the flood of superfluous plastic in their daily lives. The days when plastic was celebrated as a new miracle are over. Today, the material is seen more as a challenge in everyday life. With a plastic-free product, the companies that acquire the seal position themselves as responsible in dealing with plastic and the resulting waste and show their customers that sustainability and measures against pollution are taken seriously.

Every product is eligible for a plastic-free certification if it is overall plastic-free (turquoise) – or its content is plastic-free (dark blue) – or its packaging is plastic-free (green). In order to save even more unnecessary plastic, we also certify cosmetics, bodycare or cleaning / washing liquids / detergents that do not require microplastics (light blue).

The magenta-colored flustix RECYCLED trustmark is not a plastic-free mark. It represents an independent certificate that identifies the percentage of plastic recyclate in products, components and raw materials. Optionally, flustix RECYCLED also provides information about the type of recyclate used (PCR / PIR / MIX).

You would like to use the Flustix trustmark on your goods? Then you can register your product for the Flustix test procedure. You can do this online. After completing a questionnaire on the product, we ask you to send two samples each to the test laboratory of our partner WESSLING GmbH and to flustix. You will then receive a test offer with a cost estimate. Simply follow the instructions in the online form.

If you would like to apply for flustix RECYCLED, please fill out the relevant Questionnaire form for “Flustix Recycled” and send it directly to our partner DIN CERTCO.

flustix PLASTIC FREE trustmarks

The cost of claiming and reviewing your product is typically between € 200 and € 500, depending on the cost of testing your product. After submitting the goods to Flustix, you will receive a quote for the chemical analysis. If you decide not to carry out the examination procedure, you only pay the processing fee of 100 Euro. Why is there a processing fee if you decide against a test after receiving the offer? Our partner WESSLING has to create an expense estimate based on the products sent in and determine the appropriate methods for plastic-free detection. The products to be tested differ in their design. Unfortunately, this “preliminary analysis” cannot be offered free of charge.

If the plastic freedom has been analytically confirmed, you can obtain the license to label your product with the Flustix trustmark from our logo and license partner DIN CERTCO. The license fees for the use of the label depend on the product-relevant sales.

flustix RECYCLED trustmark

The issue of the combination mark Flustix Recycled / DIN Geprueft belongs to our partner DIN CERTCO. Please fill in the questionnaire for flustix RECYCLED and send it directly to DIN CERTCO. Our partner will get back to you quickly and inform you about the further steps (auditing the manufacturing process and the supply chain). On the pages of DIN CERTCO you will find an overview of guidelines under “Documents“.

Products and/or packaging made from bioplastics will not be certified by flustix. flustix treats bioplastics made from renewable raw materials (e.g.: bio-polyethylene) or degradable materials (e.g.: PLA) like petroleum-based plastics.
The Federal Environment Agency and the BUND also classify PLA, as it can be found for example in care products, as microplastic.

Why?
Bioplastics are still very controversial, because they can also contain harmful chemicals. In addition, not all bioplastics are recyclable and are usually burned. When bioplastics are mistakenly thrown away in the bio bin, they are not composted, as is suggested, but sorted out and also end up in the incinerator. The additional effort involved in sorting out plastic waste from organic waste also leads to increased energy consumption.