Cologne, June 11, 2024. It was with great sadness that the GreenDot team learned the news that Professor Klaus Töpfer passed away last Saturday. “Even though I unfortunately did not have the opportunity to meet him in person, I am very touched by this sad news because I know how much our company in particular, but also the circular economy as a whole, owe to him,” says Laurent Auguste, CEO of GreenDot.

Professor Töpfer had a vision over 30 years ago and made an extremely courageous political decision. With the introduction of extended product responsibility for packaging, he launched a forward-looking concept that today ensures that raw materials are broadly recycled, and that is now embraced not only in Germany and for packaging, but across Europe and now in a growing number of countries and for a wide range of products. And that there are stable, reliably financed systems for this.

As a result, Der Grüne Punkt and our company emerged as the world's first dual system at the time. Laurent Auguste: “Klaus Töpfer was a pioneer and many colleagues from the early days of our company have taken up this pioneering spirit and are carrying it forward into the future. In his spirit, we continue as pioneers to strive to turn the ambition of the circular economy into a reality.”

Throughout his life, Professor Töpfer was committed to environmental protection and sustainability because he saw it as his political duty to leave behind an environment worth living in for future generations.

“We will always honor Klaus Töpfer's memory. Our thoughts are with his family”, emphasizes Laurent Auguste.

^{Capture: Professor Klaus Töpfer (photo: Jan Knoff)}