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GREEN INSIDE SUSTAINABILITY • SCHÜTZ HAS TAKEN A BIG STEP FORWARD IN THE USE OF RECYCLATE IN ITS NEW GREEN LAYER IBCS AND DRUMS, OFFERING UN APPROVAL AS PART OF THE DEAL THE IDEA OF re-use and recycling has long been a part of the composite intermediate bulk container (IBC) sector, with many of the leading manufacturers offering global collection and remanufacturing services. One
are produced with 40 per cent high-quality plastic recyclate. This material is generated by Schütz through its worldwide collection and reconditioning programme, the Schütz Ticket Service. Another key feature is that the IBCs of
of those manufacturers, Schütz, has now taken the idea a step further with the launch of its Green Layer IBCs and plastics drums. 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
the Green Layer series also have UN approval.
HCB MONTHLY | JULY/AUGUST 2021
SCHÜTZ IS LEADING THE WAY IN THE USE OF RECYCLATE IN ITS PACKAGINGS, IMPROVING THE ENVIRONMENTAL FOOTPRINT OF ITS OWN OPERATIONS AND THOSE OF ITS CUSTOMERS
THERE AND BACK Multiple use and recycling, the two factors that sit at the heart of the circular economy, have long been a core concept of Schütz composite IBCs. The entire lifecycle 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. Depending on the type of pallet, the proportion of recycled material in a remanufactured IBC is between 36 and 55 per cent of the plastics content. 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 8 kg per IBC. The recycled HDPE is extruded only into the middle layer of the container: the inner and outer layers are made of virgin HDPE material. This way, Schütz ensures that both the filling product and the environment only come into direct contact with virgin material, making a significant contribution to protecting the quality of the filling product. Equipped with a full-plastic pallet, the total content of recycled plastic in this particular IBC model is as high as 73 per cent. Schütz has also taken care over the design of the new models; the outer layer is completely black, avoiding the colour variations that can occur when recycled material is used. Transparent view stripes allow users to monitor the filling level in the IBC at all times. Schütz also uses multi-layer extrusion for the production of drums, combining
