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Technical Papers
Pöppelmann GmbH & Co. KG
PÖPPELMANN blue® –
Recycling of protective Elements
PÖPPELMANN blue®: Recycling of KAPSTO® protective elements as part of the company-wide initiative for improved sustainability
Closed material loop instead of disposing KAPSTO® protective caps and plugs: PÖPPELMANN blue® initiative aims at reutili- sation through recycling
According to the European Com- mission, Europeans produce 25 million tonnes of plastic waste each year. In view of climate change, pollution, population growth and resource dependence, environmental and climate protec- tion have become a global chal- lenge. According to a joint study by the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the Ellen MacArthur Founda- tion , only 14 percent of the total global tonnage of all plastic pack- aging is currently being reused or recycled. However, experts believe that current technologies could help raise this quota to 70 percent through concerted action by the industry. The EU Commis- sion has just laid down a Euro- pean plastics strategy, which also
Recycling instead of disposal: In future, protective caps and plugs will be returned to Pöppelmann KAPSTO® for reprocessing after removal
foresees the reduction of plastic waste through increased recycling and higher reusability as the only viable long-term solution. The path to improved sustainability is therefore a much discussed and important topic, especially in the plastics industry.
Pöppelmann GmbH & Co. KG is further extending its focus to this topic through the company-wide PÖPPELMANN blue® initiative. The company from Lohne (Low- er-Saxony) has become one of the leading manufacturers in the plas- tics processing industry. Pöppel- mann can rely on more than 2,000 employees, ve production sites and four different business areas to supply its products to a wide variety of sectors in more than 90 countries – from the automotive industry, commercial horticulture, machine and equipment engineer- ing, through the food, pharma- ceutical and cosmetic industries,
right through to the medical engi- neering sector.
Committed to plastics production
“As an industrial company in the eld of plastics processing, we are particularly committed to making our products and processes as environmentally friendly as possi- ble. This starts in the early devel- opment stage through an analysis of the ecological aspects, and extends throughout the life cycle of our products. Our stated goal is to reconcile economic action with ecological thinking”, explains Torsten Ratzmann, CEO of the Pöppelmann Group.
Therefore it goes without saying that the use of recycled materials is one of the core competences of the corporate group: Pöppelmann has been using recycled material in its various divisions for around 20 years. These include, for instance, post-industrial recycled materials – i.e. plastic products that are returned from various production processes and then reprocessed. In the Pöppelmann TEKU® division – the company’s horticultural branch – the propor- tion of recycled materials used in the various plant pots is already more than 80 percent. Recycled materials are also used at Pöppel- mann KAPSTO® and K-TECH® for various industrial sectors.
The use of recycled materials is therefore a key component of the company’s sustainability strat- egy. The Pöppelmann Group is now taking things even one step further: A new strategic initia-
ITAtube Journal No2/July 2018
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