Our Impact

How it started and where we stand today

It didn’t start with a business plan.
It started with a feeling. 
With feet in the sand and a head full of questions.

On the beaches of South America, the problem became painfully clear. Where palm trees and peace once ruled, plastic bottles, caps, and packaging were scattered everywhere. So much that you couldn’t ignore it. And eventually, you didn’t even want to anymore.

Ruben traveled there as a backpacker. Not an environmental activist, not an entrepreneur. Just a curious young guy. But what he saw stayed with him forever.

And it didn’t stop at that beach. High in the Andes, he had another experience: his single-use plastic water bottle had frozen. No water left to drink.

And that wasn’t all. He loved ice-cold water, especially in the heat. But in Peru, that same water in a plastic bottle turned boiling hot, sticky and smelly within minutes. Not just annoying, but unnecessary.

Later, in the Galápagos Islands and the Amazon, the contrast was even harsher. Remote places, far from civilization, yet plastic washed ashore. The waste of our modern society, in the heart of fragile ecosystems. That image never left him.

Somewhere between the heat of the jungle and the cold of the mountains, the idea for FLASKE was born:

A bottle that keeps drinks cold. A bottle that keeps drinks hot. A bottle that gives something beautiful back to the world.

Not just a practical product, but a daily symbol of a better choice. For yourself, for others and for the planet.

And that’s how it started.

Since then, FLASKE has grown into a leading brand in sustainable drinkware and corporate gifts. We are proud to be officially recognized as a Social Enterprise. That means we don’t just act sustainably. We are sustainable, in our mission, in our business model and in the way we work together.

We work exclusively with materials that last and truly contribute to change:

• Our bottles, coffee cups and food pots are made from certified SS304 stainless steel, double-walled, 100% leakproof and designed to last for years.
• The finishing consists of a high-quality, durable powder coating that doesn’t fade or peel, even after years of use.
• Every package is made from 100% recycled and recyclable cardboard.
• Defective products are never thrown away but collected and professionally recycled by us.

This way, sustainability doesn’t stop at the customer’s doorstep. It runs through everything we do. From product to process. From packaging to responsibility.

The core of FLASKE

FLASKE was born out of urgency and built on a conviction: Sustainability should not be difficult, boring or full of compromise. It should simply feel right.

We design drinkware that:

• You want to use for years
• Feels great in use: in temperature, grip and experience
• Looks good and can be personalized
• Sparks conversations about reuse and quality

We don’t sell bottles. We sell a belief, packaged in a stylish product. And we help companies do the same: through onboarding, gifting and events, but with products that last.

Our ambition? 
Together with our customers and partners, we aim to prevent more than 500 million disposable bottles by 2030. 
Every FLASKE sold prevents on average 156 plastic bottles per person per year. And we are only at the beginning.

We believe that entrepreneurship is not just about making profit, but about taking responsibility.
Not only about selling, but about changing.

We don’t want to just claim we are sustainable. We want to prove it, every single day.
In our choices. In our supply chain. In our numbers. In our transparency.

Our strategy: from a bottle to a movement

Our Theory of Change works as follows:

1. Raising awareness
Companies want to become more sustainable, but don’t know where to start. We provide an accessible, visible and personal step: sustainable drinkware with impact.

2. Encouraging use through experience 
Our bottles and cups are designed to last for years. They feel sturdy, are 100% leakproof, keep drinks hot and cold, and look good enough to take anywhere. Personalization creates ownership: people want to keep it, not lose it.

3. Repetition becomes habit
Reuse must be easy. If the product works, it becomes a reflex. No more single-use. No more waste. Each FLASKE prevents hundreds of plastic bottles per year.

4. Measuring and improving impact 
We measure what we save. We share this with our customers and partners. And we use the insights to improve – in our supply chain, our communication, and our product development.

5. Building something bigger together
We collaborate with customers, suppliers and the Plastic Soup Foundation to scale our impact.

What we truly contribute
Impact may sound big. But at FLASKE it starts small. With one bottle. One habit. One moment of choosing reuse instead of single-use.

But together, those small choices add up to something big.

In 2024:

• Estimated over 13.8 million plastic bottles saved (average 156 per user per year)
• Structural support as a Business Angel of the Plastic Soup Foundation
• Chose in-house engraving and local shipping, saving thousands of kilos of CO₂ emissions
• Almost no returns, because our products are genuinely loved and used

But the real impact is not in the numbers. 
It’s in behavior.

• In the colleague who replaces their disposable cup with a personalized FLASKE.
• In the onboarding package that normalizes sustainable choices.
• In the hundreds of companies that spark a movement with one gift.

That’s what we do it for. Every single day.

Who we build with

At FLASKE, we don’t work for people, but with people. We actively involve customers, team members, suppliers and social partners in everything we do.

• Customers: co-carriers of our mission, giving feedback and helping us improve.
  Team members: given space, responsibility and visibility. We share insights and celebrate results.
• Suppliers: co-builders of better packaging, transparency and sustainable choices.
• Social partners: such as the Plastic Soup Foundation, structural collaboration and shared goals.

Our mission set in stone

What matters to us is not only on our website. It is also in our statutes:

“Reducing plastic waste by developing and marketing reusable sustainable products, and supporting social initiatives that contribute to a circular and healthy environment.”

Our mission is not just an intention. It’s legally anchored.

Our certificates & transparency

We believe true sustainability requires radical openness. That’s why we publish our certificates and audit reports:

• FSC certificate – proves our packaging is recycled or from responsibly managed forests.
• Food-grade tests (LFGB, FDA, SGS) – confirm our products are safe for daily use, free of harmful substances or unwanted taste.
• MSDS for ink – shows that even our prints and coatings are safe and responsible.

By publishing these documents, we prove that FLASKE’s promises are backed by facts.

BSCI & SMETA audits

At FLASKE, we believe transparency goes beyond our own doorstep. That’s why we regularly have our manufacturers audited by independent organizations through BSCI and SMETA.

These audits assess working conditions, safety, wages and ethics. They confirm that there are no severe violations, while also highlighting valuable areas for improvement for example around overtime and social benefits.

We have chosen not to publish these audit reports in full. Why not? Because individual findings without context can easily be misinterpreted. What we do instead is be fully open about the existence of these audits and explain how we actively use them to drive improvement with our suppliers.

Our message is clear: we hide nothing, and we keep improving.
This way, we ensure our supply chain remains fair, safe and future-proof.

Financial policy

We make profit. And we’re proud of it. Not because it’s the main goal, but because it means we can keep building.

Salary policy:
- Fair wage ratio (max 3:1)
- Rewards based on impact, responsibility and collaboration
- Bonuses linked to team results and sustainable growth

Who decides

FLASKE is a private limited company (BV) with 100% of shares owned by Ruben Peters. Ruben leads the company daily and safeguards the mission.

From 2025 we will introduce Stock Appreciation Rights (SAR) for team members who make exceptional contributions. This allows them to share in the value growth of the company without voting rights.

This way, FLASKE is built and shared together.

Annual figures

We publish our annual financial figures on our website in accessible and clear language. An open view of what comes in, where it goes, and what we do with it. 

Clarity = trust.

What it all comes down to

We are not perfect. But we are honest. We make mistakes, we learn, we improve.

We believe in products that make a difference. In choices that resonate. In a company that is bigger than profit.

But one thing never changes: our conviction that reuse must become the norm.