Masterflex SE from Gelsenkirchen, Germany, and REMONDIS Recycling GmbH & Co. KG from Essen, Germany, have entered into a long-term partnership: the goal is to establish a circular economy for industrial products made of engineered plastics and to implement it exemplarily in the market for hose and connection systems.
Plastics recycling: prevent waste, conserve raw materials
Hoses and connection systems made from high-performance plastics are used today to solve innovative applications in almost all areas of industrial and private life. Masterflex Group is the world’s leading producer, in this field. For example, when it comes to ensuring state of the art microchip production or enabling safe, compliant, and efficient food production, Masterflex’s hose systems contribute either directly or indirectly to the solution.
But what happens after using these products? Today the used hoses and connection systems are typically disposed of properly, for example, by REMONDIS Group.
REMONDIS is one of the leading private companies for recycling, industrial and public service as well as water and makes a significant contribution to protecting the environment and conserving resources in many of its business areas. From the recovery of valuable raw materials from industrial and household waste, to the production of high quality recycled raw materials, to the conversion of non-recyclable residues into fuels. The company has been active in plastics recycling for more than 50 years and recognized its importance early on. Ultimately, it is not just about preventing waste, but it is also about conserving valuable resources. By making recovered plastics available to the industry, REMONDIS can significantly reduce the consumption of oil as a primary raw material.
“The AMPIUS® asset management system created by Masterflex SE already maps the Group’s hoses and connection solutions, their lifecycles as digital twins, and can make this data available at any time. Until now, however, the necessary players in the cycle chain were missing to make this a standard offering for the market, i.e. for our customers,” says Dr. Andreas Bastin, CEO of Masterflex SE.
Jürgen F. Ephan, Managing Director of REMONDIS Recycling, is looking forward to the future partnership: “We are pleased to be able to support this project, not only with our internal and external logistics, but above all, with our high level of expertise in all matters relating to the optimal sorting and processing of plastics. Together, we are on our way to closing another useful loop, by conserving natural resources and reducing CO2 emissions.
Dr. Andreas Bastin adds: “Without a doubt, we are still at the very beginning of our journey towards a closed-loop recycling system for high-tech plastic industrial products. As the Masterflex Group, we have decided to follow this path consistently. To do this, we recently launched our “Hero@Zero” strategic program. In the future, we will offer our customers the right hose not only from a technological and economic point of view, as in the past, but also in terms of sustainability.
Jürgen F. Ephan and Dr. Andreas Bastin look forward to working together
Promote circular economy for industrial products
Still today, there are many unanswered questions regarding the implementation of a suitable environmental service system in this industry. Masterflex SE and REMONDIS want to move forward together and think in terms of cycles and implement solutions.
REMONDIS will close the missing links in the chain for a geniune circular economy by managing the take-back and material processing together with Masterflex and on the basis of the AMPIUS® data. In this way, the overall functionality of the desired recycling management system and the concrete customer benefits will be jointly designed. In the long term, new business models will be developed based on the concept of a circular economy, that are ecologically and economically attractive for customers and partners. The project is also being supported by REMONDIS Digital Services GmbH, the innovation hub founded by REMONDIS.
Image credits: image 1: Adobe Stock: REDPIXEL; image 2: © REMONDIS / Masterflex
