ReeR Safety sets a new standard in responsible manufacturing with its new award-winning sustainable packaging

What happens when a safety-focused company decides to extend that responsibility beyond the factory floor? ReeR Safety, one of the most established global players in industrial safety devices, has done exactly that. The Italian company, known for its advanced safety light curtains, controllers and RFID solutions, has been awarded at Italy’s CONAI Ecodesign 2025 Competition for its innovative slim packaging project developed for its EOS and Micron light curtain ranges.

The award, received at the Triennale di Milano during an event organized by Corriere della Sera, recognizes ReeR Safety’s contribution to the “Incentives for Circular Innovation – New Technologies” category and highlights how sustainability and industrial automation can evolve together.

Sustainability as a Natural Extension of Safety

For over 65 years, ReeR Safety’s mission has been clear: protect people. This philosophy drives every phase of product development, from engineering to installation. Yet the company has embraced a broader view of responsibility, one that includes environmental impact across the entire lifecycle of a product.

Industrial players who invest heavily in safety can no longer ignore how materials, logistics and waste influence long-term sustainability. ReeR’s award-winning packaging redesign is a direct response to this awareness.

A Slimmer, Smarter, Fully Recyclable Packaging

Redesigning packaging for light curtains sounds simple only at first glance. These devices are narrow,

elongated and can reach lengths of up to two meters, an unusual shape that complicates transport protection.

Carlo Pautasso, Technical Director at ReeR, explains the challenge:

“Our goal was to design packaging that is fully recyclable at the end of its life. Working with Smurfit WestRock, our packaging partner for more than 15 years, we developed a solution using a single material, eliminating plastic straps in favour of paper-based alternatives.”

The result is a single-material packaging system that is 100% recyclable and more efficient from both a production and environmental standpoint. But the innovation doesn’t stop at materials.

ReeR also optimized the packaging dimensions, reducing the volume from 200 × 140 mm to 160 × 105 mm, cutting the footprint by 45%. This directly impacts logistics:

• more units per pallet
• fewer shipments
• reduced CO emissions
• simpler handling for distributors and end-users

Crucially, the new packaging maintains the structural integrity required to protect precision safety devices during transport, proof that sustainability and industrial robustness can coexist.

A Recognition That Signals Industry-Wide Change

The CONAI award validates an idea with relevance far beyond packaging design: in industrial automation, sustainability is becoming inseparable from innovation. Improving what already works, and questioning long-established processes, is essential to building a safer, cleaner future for global manufacturing.

ReeR’s project demonstrates how even a “small” intervention can ripple across the entire supply chain, reshaping standards for efficiency, responsibility and environmental stewardship.

And the company has no plans to stop. This initiative is only one step in a broader strategy to embed sustainability into every decision, from materials engineering to logistics.

If you’re shaping the future of automation, whether as an integrator, OEM or industry leader, now is the moment to rethink how safety, efficiency and sustainability intersect.

Discover how ReeR Safety is driving this evolution and explore the technology behind the award-winning solution on www.reersafety.com.