Starting in January 2021, foam processor Wetropa (Mörfelden / Germany; www.wetropa.de) has been a sales partner of JSP International (Düsseldorf / Germany; www.arpro.com) for the introduction of the new foam material “Arplank”. This is a non-cross-linked foam made of expanded polyethylene, which contains up to 50% recycled material. Wetropa will not only process the raw material into packaging solutions, but also distribute it directly in the DACH region.

The physical properties, such as the novel geometry of the cell structure, are said to enable Wetropa to reduce the size and volume of a package by up to 50% while maintaining the same protective performance. The new packaging material can be used for load carriers, structural packaging, inserts and die-cut products.

Wetropa, which is headquartered near Frankfurt and has another production facility in Munich along with a sales office in Switzerland, currently employs around 130 people and expects sales of EUR 16m in 2020. A company spokesperson told Plasteurope.com about investments of “several million euros in the coming years in efficiency-enhancing as well as sustainable solutions, such as the installation of a photovoltaic system”.

The JSP Group (Tokyo / Japan; www.jsp.com), which operates European production facilities in France and the Czech Republic, also supplies expanded polypropylene marketed under the brand name “Arpro”. It is used for automotive applications, transport containers and sporting goods as well as for heating, ventilation and air-conditioning products. In September 2020, JSP opened an innovation centre for EPP particle foams in Düsseldorf / Germany.