Germany-based packaging films provider RKW has committed to recycle silage and stretch films, as part of Erntekunststoffe Recycling Deutschland (ERDE) initiative.
Image: RKW is co-founder of the ERDE Recycling initiative. Photo: courtesy of RKW Group.
RKW, which is also a founding member of the ERDE initiative, aims to collect and recycle 65% of all silage and stretch films marketed on the German market by 2022.
RKW, along with other participating companies, officially acknowledged voluntary commitment during the parliamentary evening of the plastics processing industry in Berlin.
Under the initiative, the ERDE members, including agricultural film manufacturers and distributors, will expand the return system to other agricultural plastics.
In the future, RKW and other ERDE members will collect other agricultural plastics in the return and recovery system, including bale nets, asparagus harvesting films, pressing yarns and mulch films.
The recycling system was expanded to over 400 collection points in 2018, which helped ERDE to collect 13,433 tonnes of agricultural films in the same year, helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 19,486 tonnes of CO2.
ERDE will assess the effectiveness of the voluntary commitment by 1 May 2023 and determine further measures and objectives with the support of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU).
RKW Group corporate R&D and sustainability director Thomas Gröner said: “As a value-based company, we have established sustainability as an integral part of our corporate policy and business mission. In order to advance our strategies and activities in this area, we are involved in various organizations, including the ERDE initiative.
“It is of utmost importance to us that agricultural films which are no longer used are collected and recycled instead of remaining in the environment. This way, we live up to both our responsibility as a manufacturer and towards the environment. The voluntary commitment of the ERDE initiative is an important step towards further promoting the circular economy in the years to come.”
ERDE was established by RKW and three other film manufacturers under the umbrella of the Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen e.V. association and in support with the disposal specialist RIGK.