— By Plasteurope.com staff — 

German manufacturer of industrial packaging Schütz (Selters; www.schuetz.net) and France’s Duo (Willems; www.duoemballages.com) group have joined forces in a joint venture. With seven locations for the reprocessing of intermediate bulk containers (IBCs) and barrels, they claim to form the largest network of its kind in France. By working together, the two partners also aim to increase the availability of industrial packaging that can be reused or made from recycled materials.

Duo Emballages has been active in the reconditioning of industrial packaging for 28 years. The service provider has a total of five sites with the capacity to recondition around 65,000 IBCs per year. 

Related: Industrial packaging producer Schütz acquires Ireland’s GEM Plastics

Schütz operates two production and reconditioning sites in France, in Marcoussis and St. Étienne. At St. Étienne, 60 km south-west of Lyon, Schütz expanded its production and storage capacities in 2019. In total, Schütz has more than 60 production and sales locations worldwide.

As part of the JV, the take-back system for packaging in France is to be further expanded, announced Duo managing director Hervé Obaton, without providing further details.