Schütz expands recyclate use

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 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 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 the Green Layer series also have UN approval.

SCHÜTZ IS LEADING THE WAY IN THE USE OF

RECYCLATE IN ITS PACKAGINGS, IMPROVING THE

ENVIRONMENTAL FOOTPRINT OF ITS OWN OPERATIONS 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

maximum safety with a maximum content of recycled plastic. The 200-litre F1 tight-head drum and the S-DS1 open-head drums in sizes from 30 to 220 litres are also produced as Green Layer models using the three-layer extrusion blow-moulding process with recycled HDPE in the middle layer. The recycled content here accounts for 40 per cent of the drum body and the entire product range has dangerous goods approvals.

TWO-WAY STREET Schütz’s ability to improve the environmental performance of its plastics packagings also supports its customers in achieving their sustainability goals. The new Green Layer packagings also meet future legal requirements for the use of recyclate, defined under the European Green Deal and the EU’s Action Plan for the Circular Economy.

While Schütz can help its customers meet their current and future sustainability obligations, the company also stresses that those companies using its products have an important part to play in the system. In order to ensure a constant supply of IBCs and drums with recycled plastic material, Schütz emphasises how important it is for customers and returners of used industrial packaging to actively cooperate. A corresponding supply security can only be guaranteed if there is a sufficient supply of recyclate from the Schütz Ticket Service.

The market launch of the Green Layer products therefore requires close coordination with customers and is initially limited to Europe, where pilot projects have been successfully launched. Future expansion into other regions is possible and intended thanks to the global production network of Schütz with state-of-the-art multilayer extrusion blow moulding equipment. www.schuetz.net