MIVAS is a social enterprise with more than 700 employees and a head office located in Lier.
Although our commercial offer is varied, our main activity has consisted of ‘packaging’ for more than 50 years.
This activity mainly consists of making (flowpack, closed and open shrink, cardboard,…) and labeling promotional bundles, building displays, gift packaging and filling and packaging all kinds of food and non-food products for various multinationals and SMEs.
In addition, MIVAS has also been focusing more on diversity such as:
– Manual work
– Assembly work
– Working on location (enclave)
– Maintenance of gardens and green areas
– Painting department
– …
Mivas is a flourishing company and one of the social enterprises in Flanders, with an extensive network and a strong bond of trust with their customers because of their eye for detail and quality, inspired by the quality principles of the EFQM (European Foundation for Quality Management). This has so far manifested itself in a perfect balance between economic and social aspects in order to offer added value to both customers and employees.
In order to maintain this balance, and as a co-packer with our eye on the future, MIVAS is also playing the circular economy card! Where we were previously mainly a contractor, we now also want to take on a more visible role as an innovation partner in the circular economy.
As a social enterprise, we have a unique position which allows us to build a bridge between producers, retail and consumers to set up new circular value chains with an innovative mindset.
For years, MIVAS has been working with recycled (shrink) films, looking at where plastic film can be reduced by using a circular alternative, and reviewing auxiliary materials such as labels, straps, gluedots, … Internally, MIVAS has even set up an innovation project on shrinking compostable (shrink) film and this with a positive result. Therefore, MIVAS can proudly say that it has a patent for a new oven that enables the shrinking of compostable (shrink) film.
But MIVAS goes a little further!
As each product needs a tailor-made packaging system, the big question for MIVAS remains which strategy can be applied for which product to set up the most sustainable circular packaging system. In this context, our technical department already developed its own filling mechanism for reusable containers, which can be used for powders, flours, granulates and liquids, among others. A washing line will soon be added to this, so that these containers can also be cleaned in-house for reuse.
New possibilities for circular applications are being further researched in collaboration with the University of Antwerp. In this way we create a framework with which MIVAS can serve its customers in the search and implementation of new circular packaging solutions.
In short, MIVAS is your socially-circular packaging partner!
