We do it
the MiraWay.
Over the last five decades we’ve learned there is always a way to do something better. Driven by our passion to find new solutions, we learn every day – as product developers, as partners, as a team, and as a company.
The outlook for the coming decades makes it clear that this passion for innovation creates more than just competitive advantages. The willingness to question what already exists and develop something new creates the best conditions for successfully mastering pressing global challenges.
As a down-to-earth, regionally anchored family business, we have strived from the very beginning for what is today referred to as sustainable industry. Long-term thinking, responsible decision-making, achieved as a team — that is the “MiraWay.” An attitude we live every day in every area that leads us step by step into a good future, for our customers, for our children, for everyone.
10 goals on the way to tomorrow.
10
We are guided by the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations.
Think global,
act local.
For us, “sustainability” means doing business responsibly and wisely. This includes looking beyond our own backyard. A look at the United Nations’ global sustainability goals shows the most important challenges we should all tackle in the coming years. Wherever possible, we also want to help shape a good future. We see the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a compass that ensures every further development of our company also takes the right direction.
High-quality education
Career with apprenticeship
Around 50 young men and women have completed an apprenticeship at Miraplast since 1970 as plastics technicians, toolmaking technicians, or office clerks. Some with honors, others with a high school diploma, but all with a solid foundation on which to build a successful professional future.
Women in technical professions
Equal opportunity is a top priority at Miraplast. Women who want to learn a technical profession or work in a technical environment are just as welcome as male applicants – and also have the same opportunities to grow into management positions: like department manager in the toolmaking department.
Mira Academy
In-house training and further education are encouraged. As part of the MiraAcademy, we have developed a variety of offerings that enable employees to acquire new skills and explore personal development paths.
Cheap and clean energy
Green Energy
We support the energy revolution and purchase electricity exclusively from renewable energy sources: hydropower, wind energy, solar energy, and biomass.
Our own solar power generation
1,438 solar cells on approximately 3,600 m2 of roof surface supply up to 38% of the electricity demand at the Würmla production site. This saves the atmosphere 121 t of CO2 every year.
Good jobs and economic growth
Rural employer
As a family business, we have grown over more than five decades into an important employer in the region. 60% of the employees at the main plant live within a 10-kilometer radius of Würmla. A real home advantage, which saves these people many thousands of commuting kilometers year after year and ensures part of the added value remains in the region.
MiraCare
If you want satisfied customers, you need satisfied, motivated, and healthy employees first. In addition to fair pay, people at Miraplast can also enjoy a wide range of offers that support their personal well-being. From free health check-ups, to discounted vaccination campaigns, to support in quitting smoking, and Shiatsu massage.
Integration
We regularly pass on simple assembly work to the protected workshop in Innermanzing. In this way, we support the integration of people with learning difficulties and disabilities and gladly welcome them to our annual Christmas party.
Produce and consume responsibly
Circular economy
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. We are guided by the principles of the circular economy. This means we try to close material-and-energy loops and thus specifically reduce our resource consumption, energy requirements and resulting emissions. Many of our household items are used for decades and thus help to reduce packaging waste. Fresh food containers that are returned to us are recycled and turned into new products.
Long lasting products
Ours is the reusable path. There is not a single disposable product in the entire range. Everything is designed for many years of use with lasting quality. Time and time again, fully functional products find their way back to us, dating back to the late 70s. A nice confirmation of our quality promise: Miraplast – made to last
Bio-based plastic
The petroleum age is coming to an end. The time to develop new raw materials is pressing. In many places, experiments are being carried out with plant-based raw materials, which raises the question of whether these raw materials are not more urgently needed as food. One possible answer to this question is provided by MiraGreen products, which are made from plant leftovers from sugar cane processing. The items in our Green range are just as durable as all other MiraHome products and are 100% recyclable – but not biodegradable.
Short distances
Think global, act local. Whenever possible, we source our operating materials from suppliers in close proximity. Our entire injection molding machinery is also from Austria. The most frequently processed material (polypropylene) is supplied from Bratislava. When purchasing other types of plastics, we are still currently forced to accept longer transport distances.
Recyclable products
Designed to be recycled. All MiraHome products are 100% recyclable. Every part of each item is made out of only one type of plastic. And that’s a good thing: because anything that can be recycled by type has the best chance of being used again to make a new high-quality product at the end of the product’s life cycle.
Zero-waste project
We are currently working on setting up a return system that makes it as easy as possible for people to return no-longer-used products to Miraplast. At the same time, we are developing a product line that will consist of up to 98% recyclate.
Climate protection measures
LED lighting
Precision work requires optimal lighting conditions at all times. By switching to an LED lighting concept, the required energy has been significantly reduced. A measure that relieves the climate of 11.76 t of CO2 annually.
Energy-effect machines
We continuously modernize our machinery. This enables us to increase production capacities and at the same time achieve considerable energy savings. The commissioning of three new injection molding machines alone has enabled annual electricity savings of 45,000 kWh since 2016.
Energy recovery
Consume less energy, use more waste heat. Thanks to a recooling system, we can use the waste heat from the injection-molding machines to heat the entire plant building during the cold season.
Facts, facts, facts.
Today, plastics are held responsible for many ecological problems. However, one very central aspect is usually ignored. Many of these problems are not caused by the material itself, but by the careless way it is dealt with. The keyword here is “throwaway society.” Images of plastic islands and littered landscapes contribute to plastic being labeled as a problem material. However, a closer look at the situation shows that plastic can also be part of the solution.
…plastic products help reduce food waste?
The ecological footprint of food is 8-10 times larger than the CO2 footprint of plastic packaging. This means that if you really want to protect the climate, you should do everything you can to prevent food from spoiling. That’s where significant leverage is. But that doesn’t mean you have to go back to disposable packaging. After all, what are reusable fresh-food containers for? Many stores are already offering to put sausage and cheese directly into the transport containers you bring.
Enormous amounts of food waste are also produced in private households. The simplest solution? Transfer food into one or more small stay-fresh containers, freeze, and enjoy again at the next opportunity. Whether at home or in the office, the main thing is that the food ends up in your stomach instead of in the garbage can.
…plastic products actually contribute to climate protection?
When a life-cycle assessment is drawn up, the environmental impact throughout the life of a product is recorded. Plastic products perform much better than you might think. Why is that? Compared to the production of glass or aluminum, plastic production requires much less energy. According to calculations, replacing plastic products with possible alternative materials would increase Europe’s energy consumption by around 2,140 million GJ per year and increase greenhouse gas emissions by 110 million t CO2 equivalents. (3) Which means: plastic products make an important contribution to relieving our climate.
Important detail: The entire life cycle of a product is always taken into account when drawing up the life-cycle assessment. Reusable packaging systems that are used 200 times or more are therefore also much more ecological in this respect than disposable packaging.
…pure plastics can be easily recycled?
“You can save yourself the trouble of separating the plastic you collect. It will all be incinerated in the end.” What is still common practice in many places today is something we will no longer be able to afford in the future. However, if the EU’s new plastics strategy has its way, 55% of all plastic packaging will be recycled and 90% of all disposable bottles collected by 2030. (4)
That’s a good thing. In Austria, 42 kg of plastic waste are generated per capita. But only about a third of it is recycled. To change this, one thing above all is needed: more single-variety plastic products. Like the products from Miraplast, which can be regranulated, melted down, and reshaped into new products. A little tip: Anyone who returns no-longer-used Miraplast stay-fresh containers can get a 15% discount voucher for the MiraHome online store.
…food safe containers are subject to the strictest regulations and are constantly checked by the market office?
According to the EU framework regulation, only materials classified as “food safe” may come into contact with food. Food-safe plastic products can therefore be used in direct contact with food without any health concerns. Manufacturers of plastic articles which come into contact with food must prove their product’s suitability for food by means of a migration test. These products can be identified by the glass-and-fork symbol, which is valid throughout the EU.
Recycled plastic, by the way, may no longer be processed into products which come into contact with food. The exception to this is PET beverage bottles, which may be reprocessed into PET beverage bottles.