Tana-Chemie is now adding a sustainable descaler to the Green Care Professional range. The formula is completely biodegradable and impresses with its powerful performance.
Corrosion protection for value retention and a wide range of applications
With its highly biodegradable methanesulfonic acid, Calc off scores highly in the quick and effective removal of limescale, calcium deposits, and soap residues. The added corrosion inhibitors form a protective layer on iron, steel, and non-ferrous metals, extending the service life of appliances. This means that the descaler can also be used on copper (up to a 10% solution) and stainless-steel heating elements.
The new Calc off is low-foaming thanks to the absence of surfactants. This makes it particularly suitable for microporous surfaces such as fine stoneware. Thanks to its low-foaming formula, washing machines and kitchen appliances such as coffee machines, beverage dispensers, and dishwashers can also be descaled particularly well. Free from fragrances and colorants, Calc off is perfectly suited for use in kitchen hygiene.
The overall package offered by Calc off is rounded off by an economical application concentration starting at just 0.25% and the prevention of new limescale deposits with regular use.
This year too Werner & Mertz Professional will be at Interclean Amsterdam from April 14 to 17. At the largest international trade show for the professional cleaning industry, the Mainz-based company highlights the latest innovations and newsworthy topics related to a functioning circular economy.
At Stand 05.311 Werner & Mertz Professional again offers a special trade show experience. In the integrated Experience Area, cleaning and hygiene specialists can watch regularly scheduled live demonstrations of practical interactions in the circular economy and products’ strong cleaning performance. Thomas Ulbricht, Head of Werner & Mertz Professional, explains the concept: “We think it’s important to show that sustainable solutions in professional cleaning do not require compromises in product performance or quality. A functioning circular economy thrives on smart, pioneering innovations. That’s exactly what we bring to life in our Experience Area.”
What awaits visitors is a broad selection of new and certified products from the Green Care Professional brand along with systems and solutions tailored to satisfy everyday requirements in professional cleaning.
Major topics and innovations at the Werner & Mertz Professional stand:
Zero Free of dyes and fragrances, with maximum cleaning power: In the new Zero product range, Werner & Mertz Professional presents cleaning products without dyes and fragrances, specially developed with allergy sufferers in mind. The new series includes 14 high-performance cleaning and care products for use in building cleaning.
Tawip neo TAWIP neo is a genuine innovation for professional floor cleaning and care. Free of microplastic and completely biodegradable. The floor mopping product is the first of its kind based on water-soluble biopolymeres from Europe. It uses no environmentally-damaging polymeres based on petroleum.
Switch The Switch dosing and refill system combines efficient, safe dosing with the advantages of resource-conserving, economical refilling. The innovative integrated dosing cap eliminates manual filling and the need for separate dosing equipment. The ultra-concentrated formulations for four different areas of application fulfill stringent sustainability requirements.
Green Care Performance Calculator The future of our Earth is predictable. Every one of us bears responsibility and every bit of resource conservation counts toward sustaining our planet and its resources. With the Green Care Performance Calculator, customers can calculate – and have certified – the amount of CO2, petroleum and plastic they avoid by using professional cleaning products from the Green Care Professional brand.
An extra attraction at the stand offers a close look at key elements of a functioning circular economy – and plenty of time for questions and discussions. “Our goal is to prepare companies as best we can for their transition to a true circular economy,” says Ulbricht. “Sustainability is not an obstacle to, but rather a driver of innovation. It can be uncomplicated, effective and inspiring. We look forward to talking with our customers about how we can shape a sustainable future in professional cleaning.”
Last year, Tana-Chemie once again demonstrated how successful holistic sustainable management can be — with transparent circular economy practices, a world record, prestigious awards, and groundbreaking innovations.
Even greater transparency with the Green Care Performance Calculator
In addition to savings in CO2, plastic, and crude oil, the Green Care Performance Calculator provides two new values for greater transparency and sustainability: the recycled content of the hollow body and the total packaging are now included in the certificate. Green Care Professional customers can calculate and certify their sustainable impact on the future of our planet. By purchasing Green Care brand products, significant amounts of resources were saved again in Germany and Switzerland in 2025:
– CO2: 1.624.431 kg
– Plastic: 293.903 kg
– Crude oil: 517.335 kg
„Resource savings drive us and our customers forward every day. We are delighted not only about the renewed increase in savings, but also about the steadily growing commitment of our customers to cleaning more sustainably with Green Care Professional,” says Bianca Nerowski, Head of Product Management at Tana-Chemie.
A real milestone: 1 billion recycled bottles
Together with its parent company Werner & Mertz, Tana-Chemie is also celebrating the world record. One billion rPET bottles made from 100% post-consumer recycled material have been brought to market since the start of its recycled material initiative! A record that shows what the circular economy can achieve!
EcoVadis Platinum medal renewed for Tana-Chemie
“We see the Platinum medal, which we have received since 2021 and have been able to renew repeatedly, as recognition of our commitment to holistic sustainability. This means we remain one of the world’s most sustainable companies, as only the top 1% of all companies are honored with the Platinum medal,” says Bianca Nerowski. As a sustainability pioneer and socially responsible company, holistic sustainability has been an integral part of the corporate culture of the brand with the frog in its logo for years.
Switch system wins Green Packaging Star Award
Switch, the innovative dosing and refill system, has been awarded the Green Packaging Star Award 2025. The system represents a comprehensive and revolutionary solution for the entire professional cleaning industry. The unique combination of a bottle with an integrated dosing cap and the corresponding refill bag effectively contributes to the circular economy and sets new standards in terms of 100% recyclability and waste minimization.
The innovative dosing & refilling system Switch has won another award. This time around it’s the internationally renowned WorldStar Packaging Award.
Since 1970, the World Packaging Organization (WPO) has conducted the respected WorldStar Awards and conferred awards for outstanding packaging solutions from around the world. The WorldStar competition is among the organization’s most distinguished events. Considered the leading global honor for packaging design, the WorldStar Packaging Award stands for the continuous development of design and technology and sets international standards that the industry can use as orientation. Every year the WPO recognizes the most impressive innovations which not only address current challenges but also present pioneering solutions.
The innovative Switch System combines safe, efficient dosing that requires no additional equipment with the benefits of sustainable and reasonably priced refilling. The unique design of bottle and clever dosing mechanism with related refill pouch represents a complete and revolutionary solution for the entire professional cleaning sector. All components in the system effectively contribute to the circular economy and set new standards for 100 percent recyclability and waste minimization. Ultra-concentrated formulations that satisfy the highest sustainability requirements are available for four different application areas. Because the bottle and the dosing mechanism are made 100% of recycled plastic, they are completely recyclable. The integrated dosing mechanism eliminates the interim step of manual measuring and prevents potential direct contact between cleaning personnel and the cleaning products. Users benefit from minimizing the danger of overdosing. No additional expenses are incurred for separate dosing accessories. Thanks to the integrated dosing mechanism and intuitive use, the cleaning process can be made more efficient. Within a short time cleaning personnel understand how to use the dosing aid and which direction to move the lever for the desired action. Users are familiar with the refilling process with the recyclable mono-material pouch from experience at home, so training effort and costs can be reduced.
This year the 48-member jury for the international WPO competition chose winners in 19 categories from 481 submissions from 35 countries. Switch received the WorldStar Packaging Award 2026 in the Household category. The official awards ceremony will take place during the trade show Interpack in Düsseldorf on 8 May 2026.
Recyclate Initiative as example of a functional circular economy impressed the jury
Renowned award for the EMAS pioneer: Werner & Mertz receives the Environmental Management Award 2025 in the category “Best Measures for Improving Environmental Performance” for its Recyclate Initiative. The honor is conferred by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN) and the Austrian Federal Ministry for Climate Protection (BMLUK). Only EMAS-validated companies in the DACH region can apply for the award.
“EMAS is a diamond of resource conservation that gets an enhancing cut every year. The Environmental Management Award is not the award of yesterday – with EMAS, it’s the award of tomorrow!” says Werner & Mertz owner Reinhard Schneider.
Excellent example for a functional circular economy
With the award, the German-Austrian jury commended the Recyclate Initiative founded in 2012 by Werner & Mertz and its cooperation partners along the supply chain, who worked together to develop and implement high-quality mechanical recycling of used plastic from post-consumer waste collection systems like the Yellow Bag.
Plastic recycling prevents the trashing of land and sea, conserves resources and stops the incineration of valuable plastic. By reducing the CO2 emissions of every product packaging, the Initiative actively contributes to climate protection. It also makes environmental protection of integral components in product design, production, usage and disposal ecologically and economically effective. Over the years Werner & Mertz has been recognized as a cross-industry pioneer and a best practice example for high-quality recycling of plastic. In June 2025 the Recyclate Initiative announced a world record: one billion PET bottles produced from 100 percent recycled plastic had been made available for further recycling!
The jury based its assessment on several criteria, including effectiveness, innovative content, integration in corporate communications and corporate strategy, and transparency and comprehensibility of the presentation.
“Winning the German-Austrian Environmental Management Award confirms again how consistently, soundly and integrally we improve our environmental performance through targeted and longstanding measures at our EMAS-validated sites in Mainz and Hallein. We are proud of this award and, as a pioneer, can expressly encourage other companies to get involved in EMAS, the most substantiated standard for sustainable environmental management,” says Yannic von Raesfeld, Head of Sustainability Management at Werner & Mertz.
Sustainability Management at Werner & Mertz is EMAS validated and We Impact certified
The award ceremony took place during the conference “30 Years of EMAS – a sustainable success” in the Haus der Deutschen Wirtschaft in Berlin. For the Mainz manufacturer of cleaning products, EMAS, the world’s most extensive, highest quality system for sustainable management, is of special significance. For more than 20 years, the production site in Mainz has been validated by EMAS.
The family-owned business is the first industrial company ever to undergo an additional audit based on the We Impact standard, which puts the focus on social and governance aspects in operational processes. Werner & Mertz thus voluntarily and simultaneously fulfills many requirements of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG).
Reinhard Schneider wins EY Entrepreneur of the Year and Audience Award
“Shape the Future with Confidence” was the motto for the 29th EY Entrepreneur of the Year awards ceremony at which Werner & Mertz owner Reinhard Schneider was named winner in the Sustainability category. The owner-managed, visionary company was honored for forging new ways and actively shaping the future. The award was conferred by an independent jury of experts in the categories Family Company, Innovation, Sustainability and Young Companies. Twenty companies were nominated for the finale in the 2025 competition.
This year for the fifth time, the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Audience Award was granted by the readers of manager magazine and others who cast their votes online. Here, too, the Mainz eco pioneer won the award with the most votes by far.
“For our employees and for me this is an impressive confirmation that we are headed in the right direction. The Audience Award in particular shows the broad, positive feedback of the general public,“ said Schneider after the ceremony on Thursday evening in Munich. The presenter Christina Diem-Puello, President of the Verband der Unternehmerinnen in Germany, praised the award winner’s performance on behalf of his company.
Werner & Mertz impressed the jury in all four criteria
The four key criteria award were: Entrepreneurship (corporate thinking and action); Purpose (corporate purpose and vision); Growth (growth and future potential); and Impact (positive impact and corporate social responsibility). Werner & Mertz showed extraordinary performance in all four categories.
Entrepreneurship
The company’s most convincing move was making sustainability a priority in all corporate decisions – consciously contrary to the then predominant trend of imitation by large corporations in the industry. Since that time, the company has pursued the goal of staying at least one development generation ahead of the previous ecological benchmark in its formulations, packaging and production conditions – with no loss of performance.The most prominent example of this attitude is the extensive achievement of several world records in high-quality recycling of plastic packaging for the mass market.
Impact
The exceptionally high level of conscientiousness in the company shows up in two ways. First, the benefit to society is realized by the company’s exemplary contribution to preserving natural resources, and second by its Open Innovation approach in which the company shares its know-how with others. Still another is the benefit to the working world in that Werner & Mertz achieves exemplary employee empowerment, motivation and retention. The medium-sized enterprise is regularly named among the Top Employers in Mainz and southern Germany.
Purpose
The employees’ personal development and loyalty to the company arises from characteristics of a value-creation culture. Employees find meaning in their work through their direct participation in a variety of beacon projects aimed at increasing sustainability.
Growth
The world’s brand leader in ecological cleaning products and family company in the fifth generation strives toward a broader international rollout of European market penetration. To that end, the company continues to focus on organic growth in its trusted brands.
Platinum medal for Tana-Chemie GmbH! The company has done it again, receiving the highest award in this year’s 2025 sustainability rating from the international rating agency EcoVadis. As part of the Professional division of Werner & Mertz, Tana-Chemie is one of the world’s leading companies in terms of sustainability, as the platinum medal is only awarded to the top percentage of all companies.
EcoVadis is one of the leading providers of sustainability assessments and has a global network of more than 150,000 companies from over 250 industries. The provider’s goal is to make reliable and internationally recognized assessments available that help companies minimize risks, drive improvements and achieve positive environmental and social impacts. The assessment evaluates the extent to which companies integrate the principles of sustainability and corporate social responsibility into their business processes, including all policies and measures along the entire supply chain.
“We are delighted to receive this award once again. It is a tremendous honor and confirms once more that our consistent commitment to integral sustainability and our continuous pursuit of optimization in line with the circular economy are having an impact,” says Yannic von Raesfeld, Head of Sustainability Management at Werner & Mertz. “It is particularly gratifying that we were able to improve in all evaluation categories compared to last year.”
EcoVadis evaluates companies based on over 20 criteria in four key areas: environment, labor and human rights, ethics, and sustainable procurement. Tana-Chemie GmbH once again performed especially well in the “environment” category this year. EcoVadis particularly commends the company’s consistent implementation of the circular economy, with a special focus on the use of recycled materials and packaging.
As a sustainability pioneer and socially responsible company, sustainability has been an integral part of Werner & Mertz Professional’s corporate culture for years. Proof of the holistic understanding of sustainability in the Professional Division has come in the form of certifications and awards over the past several years. Honors include certification by EMAS, the world’s most demanding environmental management system, and the sustainable building standard LEED Platinum for the Mainz headquarters. In addition, the family-owned company was recently one of the first industrial companies ever to undergo the We Impact Standard audit. This audit focuses primarily on social and governance aspects in operational processes. As a result, Tana-Chemie GmbH already voluntarily meets many of the requirements of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG). In 2013, the products from the Green Care Professional brand became the first worldwide professional cleaning agents to receive the Gold designation from the renowned Cradle to Cradle Cradle® Certification.
Together with its parent company Werner & Mertz, Tana-Chemie GmbH works within the Recyclate Initiative founded in 2012 to practice and promote effective recycling of plastic from post-consumer collections for the good of the circular economy. A new milestone was recently achieved when the share of recycled PET (rPET) from the Yellow Bag was increased to 75 % for the PET bottles of the Green Care Professional brand. In addition, Werner & Mertz, in cooperation with the global packaging and paper company Mondi, developed a fully recyclable, patented stand-up pouch made of mono-material (polyethylene) with a removable banderole according to the Cradle to Cradle® principles, which was awarded the prestigious WorldStar Packaging Award in 2020.
Green Care Professional draws a positive conclusion about CMS. The frog for professionals was on site at the two-storey exhibition stand to strengthen brand awareness and present three innovations to a broad specialist audience. Exciting live presentations by experts in the technical centre generated great enthusiasm, with the advantages and special features of sustainable cleaning products being presented in a practical manner.
Innovationen at the forefront
Care without layer build-up – and sustainable too: TAWIP neo, the first wipe care product based on innovative, water-soluble biopolymers of plant origin from Europe, attracted keen interest among visitors.
BIOBACT power: This microbiological cleaner with 100% natural microorganisms removes dirt and unpleasant odours deep down and permanently. A real help for hygienic freshness.
zero%-Sortiment: Under the slogan ‘What we leave out makes the difference’, Green Care Professional presented its new product line without fragrances or dye – particularly suitable for allergy sufferers and anyone who values maximum compatibility.
Networking, new contacts, interested guests in high spirits
“CMS 2025 was a complete success for us,” sums up Markus Häfner, Managing Director of Tana-Chemie, “and once again proved to be a platform for presenting comprehensive insights into future-oriented products. The exchange of ideas and the international presence not only demonstrated how important the trade fair is for the industry, but also that sustainability is full of opportunities.”
Werner & Mertz Professional received another prestigious award for its innovative dosing and refill system Switch. On the evening of September 24, 2025, the Green Packaging Star Award was presented for the 17th time. The Green Packaging Star Award recognizes particularly sustainable packaging solutions that protect not only the product but also the environment. It is presented annually at the FACHPACK packaging trade fair in Nuremberg, which has been the central meeting place for the packaging industry in Europe for over 40 years and offers a comprehensive program covering all relevant topics in the packaging industry. The award ceremony is organized by the WPO, the World Packaging Organization, and KOMPACK, the magazine for packaging and logistics solutions based in Austria.
Switch’s innovative and unique combination of bottle and dosing cap with the corresponding refill pouch represents a comprehensive and revolutionary solution for the entire professional cleaning industry. All components contribute effectively to the circular economy and set new standards in terms of 100 % recyclability and waste minimization. The integrated dosing cap eliminates the intermediate step of manual measuring and the potential direct contact of cleaning staff with the cleaning agents. Users benefit from the minimization of the risk of overdosing. Additional costs for separate dosing accessories are eliminated.
Torsten Haas from the Werner & Mertz Packaging Development department was present at the ceremony and received the certificate during the award ceremony. The Green Packaging Star Award clearly demonstrates that Switch is a convincing, holistic system that is ecologically pioneering – from the formulations to its now awarded packaging.
Werner & Mertz Professional presents new Zero product range
Free of dyes and odorless, with maximum cleaning power: For the new Zero product range, Werner & Mertz Professional developed cleaning products free of all dyes and fragrances with special consideration given to allergy sufferers. This new edition of the proven F-Range comes to the market and it includes 14 high-performance cleaning and care products for use in building cleaning.
The name and logo of the new product series reveal what’s important – the products contain zero percent dyes and fragrances. “Our years of experience show us that customers are increasingly asking for fragrance- and dye-free products,“ says Bianca Nerowski, Head of Product Management at Werner & Mertz Professional. “Especially where no odors and the lowest possible indoor air pollution are demanded, our products deliver true added value.” She explains: “Because the cleaning agents emit no fragrance in the indoor air, they lower the risk of allergic reactions among cleaning personnel and everyone else present in the cleaned rooms. At the same time, the formulations prove their strong cleaning performance.“
Moreover, the formulations for the Zero cleaning products have been rigorously optimized for environmental compatibility. By doing without these additives, product developers have made further improvements to the biodegradability of the cleaning solutions. All ingredients have been tested thoroughly for their ecological harmlessness.
Therefore, almost all products in the new Zero range bear the respected EU-Ecolabel which guarantees the highest standards for environmentally friendly formulations. In addition, nearly the entire range has been certified by the Cradle-to-Cradle Products Innovation Institute. This distinction proves that the Zero products satisfy the highest requirements for ingredients, resource conservation and packaging.
All products are in the same price segment as the other products under the Green Care Professional brand, making them an attractive alternative at no additional cost for people with allergies.
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