ON THE COVER
SCHÜTZ GREEN LAYER – UNAPPROVED IBCS AND PLASTIC DRUMS MADE WITH HIGH QUALITY RECYCLATE Selters (hds). As a pioneer of the circular economy in industrial packaging, Schütz has for decades been setting standards in the conservation of natural resources by saving, reusing and recycling materials and components. The company’s Plastic drums offer the highest quality, safety and performance – while at the same time providing a low operating weight. The IBCs, which are developed in-house and manufactured around the world, owe their leading global position to the highly efficient and environmentally friendly combination of reusable and disposable systems. In the new Schütz Green Layer versions, the eco-balance of both types of
packaging has been taken to a new level. In the multi-layer extrusion process, the IBC inner bottles and drum bodies are produced with 40 per cent high-quality plastic recyclate. This material is generated by Schütz through its worldwide collection and reconditioning programme. Another key feature is that the IBCs of the Green Layer series also have UN approval. Ecological Packaging as a comprehensive concept Multiple use and recycling, the two factors that sit at the heart of the circular economy, have always been a core concept of Schütz IBCs. The entire life cycle of the packaging is geared towards ensuring maximum environmental friendliness. During reconditioning as part of the Schütz Ticket Service, the inner bottles of collected IBCs are removed from the steel grid and treated in a complex recycling process during which they are ground, cleaned and finally regranulated. Special degassing extruders ensure a low-odour, homogeneous quality. The company uses the HDPE recyclate obtained in a closed cycle: 100 per cent flows back into the internal production of plastic packaging components, including corner protectors and plastic pallets. This is why Schütz IBCs have always had an exceptionally high proportion of recycled material. Depending on the type of pallet, the proportion is between 36 and 55 per cent of the plastic in the entire IBC. Additional CO2 saving: more than eight kilograms per IBC With the new Green Layer IBCs, Schütz has increased this proportion even further, taking resource preservation to a new level. For these containers in particular, high-quality recycled material is also used for the production of the inner bottle. The IBC container in the innovative Green Layer design contains 40 per cent recycled material alone. This corresponds to an additional CO2 saving of at least eight kilograms per IBC. The recycled
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