Plastics manufacturer Pöppelmann from Lohne has committed itself to signing two basic statements on the active promotion of the circular economy. The family-owned company has announced that the Pöppelmann Group supports both the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and the pan-European industry alliance Circular Plastics Alliance.
"The goals of both initiatives fit very well with our corporate policy and in particular with the product concepts for the material cycle, which we are already developing in our corporate initiative PÖPPELMANN blue®," explains Managing Director Matthias Lesch. "But beyond that, the entire plastics industry is dominated by the circular economy. This is the model of the future for single-use plastic products," he says.
The Pöppelmann representatives at the plastics fair.
According to the Circular Economy model, products or the materials for their manufacture are used or recycled again and again, ideally for a product of the same quality level. Matthias Lesch: "In the case of plastic packaging, the processing of post-consumer recyclates - in short: PCR - is crucial in order to achieve this goal." PCR is recycled plastic that is produced from domestic plastic waste.
Increase proportion of recycled plastic waste
The company signed the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment on time for the publication of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's first annual Progress Report. Currently, 447 companies as well as individuals and institutions from politics, business and science support the declaration.
Among other things, the signing commits Pöppelmann to significantly increasing the percentage of recycled plastic waste from recyclable material collections for the production of plastic packaging by 2025.
In addition, the company is one of the more than 100 initial signatories of the Circular Plastic Alliance initiated by the EU Commission. In it, the companies and associations affirm their active support for the EU Commission's goal of using ten million tonnes of recycled plastic in new products by 2025. The signatories commit themselves to active participation in areas such as design for recycling, collection and sorting, processing of recyclates, research and development and monitoring.
Topic number one
"The circular economy is the number one issue," explains Lesch. "We have also seen this at the world's leading plastics trade fair (Kunststoff Weltleitmesse) in Dusseldorf." From 16 to 23 October, around 3200 exhibitors presented the complete range of services and the entire range of innovative applications in their field of work. Concepts for a responsible and sustainable use of the material plastic were this year's focus topics of the "K", as the show within the industry is called succinctly.
In addition to raw material manufacturers and mechanical engineering companies, Pöppelmann was one of the comparatively few plastics processors who presented their product solutions here. "We have had many successful discussions. Above all, our technical skills and opportunities around the topics of EcoDesign and material circulation, and in particular our work in the PÖPPELMANN blue® initiative, attracted a great deal of interest.
FAMAC® universal packaging
Much attention was also paid to the universal packaging developed by the FAMAC® Division, consisting of at least 90 percent post-consumer recyclate for the non-food sector, for which the Lohner plastics processor was awarded the German Packaging Award in Gold only a few days ago.
For more information: www.poeppelmann.com