AGRICULTURAL FILMS RECYCLING
Germany's Erde initiative presents voluntary commitment to 65% recycling rate by 2022
 IK and Erde managing director Jürgen Bruder (left), department head at the German environment ministry Regina Dube (middle) and Roland Straßburger, GKV vice president and IK president (Photo: GKV) |
The agricultural films recycling initiative Erntekunststoffe Recycling Deutschland (Erde, Bad Homburg / Germany; www.erde-recycling.de) presented a voluntary commitment to new collection and recycling targets to the German environment ministry in Berlin at a parliamentary evening of the plastics processing industry in late June. Erde is aiming to increase the collection and recycling rates of silage and stretch films marketed in Germany to 50% by 2021 and 65% by 2022.
In 2018, the initiative collected and recycled 25%, which corresponded to 13,433 t – see Plasteurope.com of 16.04.2019. About 70% of the collected films are recycled in Germany, with the remainder recycled in other EU countries. “The aim is to collect and recycle all crop plastics in order to close the loop and avoid plastics escaping into the ground and the environment,” said Erde director and IK managing director Jürgen Bruder.
According to Erde, silage and stretch films account for two thirds of applications. Its next objective is to integrate additional crop plastics, including asparagus films, round bale netting and mulch films, into the circular system.
The recovery concept for crop plastics in Europe was launched in 2014. Operating under the German association for plastic packaging, Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen (IK, Bad Homburg; www.kunststoffverpackungen.de), and in cooperation with waste management specialist RIGK (Wiesbaden / Germany; www.rigk.de), Erde organises the collection and recycling of used agricultural films made of LDPE (group 1) and LLDPE (group 2) with recyclers across Germany. Farmers and agricultural contractors collect the used plastics and deposit them bundled and cleaned of coarse dirt at a collection point.
The following manufacturers and distributors of agricultural plastics are currently supporting the Erde intiative:
In 2018, the initiative collected and recycled 25%, which corresponded to 13,433 t – see Plasteurope.com of 16.04.2019. About 70% of the collected films are recycled in Germany, with the remainder recycled in other EU countries. “The aim is to collect and recycle all crop plastics in order to close the loop and avoid plastics escaping into the ground and the environment,” said Erde director and IK managing director Jürgen Bruder.
According to Erde, silage and stretch films account for two thirds of applications. Its next objective is to integrate additional crop plastics, including asparagus films, round bale netting and mulch films, into the circular system.
The recovery concept for crop plastics in Europe was launched in 2014. Operating under the German association for plastic packaging, Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen (IK, Bad Homburg; www.kunststoffverpackungen.de), and in cooperation with waste management specialist RIGK (Wiesbaden / Germany; www.rigk.de), Erde organises the collection and recycling of used agricultural films made of LDPE (group 1) and LLDPE (group 2) with recyclers across Germany. Farmers and agricultural contractors collect the used plastics and deposit them bundled and cleaned of coarse dirt at a collection point.
The following manufacturers and distributors of agricultural plastics are currently supporting the Erde intiative:
- Aspla
- Barbier
- Claas
- Coveris Flexibles Austria
- Duoplast
- Karatzis
- Manuli Stretch Deutschland
- Polifilm Extrusion
- Rani Plast
- RKW Agri
- RPC bpi
- Sotrafa
- Tama
- Trioplast
09.07.2019 Plasteurope.com [242812-0]
Published on 09.07.2019
German version of this article...