KIVO Volendam, KRAS Recycling and KIVO Kosovo join forces
Project REKS has been under development by partners KRAS, KIVO and KIVO Kosovo for some time. The aim of this project is to make even better use and reuse of plastic packaging materials. REKS' factory is being built in Kosovo. Robert Kwakman - director of KIVO Group - and Ben Kras - director of KRAS Recycling - talk about REKS.
To produce fully circular products, the process starts at KRAS Recycling. They collect all plastic waste from large companies and distribution centres. They then transport it to REKS in Kosovo. From May 2019, the waste will be sorted, washed and regenerated into recyclate at REKS. Previously, this was done in large volumes in China. "Nowadays, a small part still goes to destinations in Asia. The larger part now goes to incinerators in Europe. By recycling in-house in Kosovo, we can create closed-loops, guaranteeing high quality. In addition, it contributes to employment and development of Kosovo and is less harmful to the environment," Kras said.
Construction of REKS progresses steadily.
KIVO Kosovo will use some of the recyclate in the production of various applications, such as rubbish bags and collection bags. As an example, Kwakman says: "KIVO currently supplies hundreds of thousands of kilos of collection bags to a large supermarket chain, soon we will take this to REKS in Kosovo. Recycled bags are made there and we sell them back to the same supermarket chain. So that supermarket chain will soon have new collection bags made from its own waste plastic. That is sustainable and also much cheaper".
Closed loop solutions
With the current development within the plastics industry, there is an increasing need for applications that are processed in a circular way. In the future, REKS also hopes to come up with more closed loop solutions. Think, for example, of shrink films for trays and sixpacks that incorporate recyclate. However, key players in the chain - such as marketers and bottling companies - will then also have to move along to make packaging more sustainable together.
In recent years, a lot of money has been invested in sorting and recycling plants in Europe. The way REKS works is exactly what the European Union and the Dutch government want to see in the coming years: less primary raw materials and more circular solutions.
The government wants the Netherlands to reuse more raw materials and incinerate less waste. Therefore, tariffs will soon go up for products that are not recyclable. The government is actively working on recycling plans, more or less forcing companies to meet certain recycling targets. "Since the Paris climate agreement, all governments have been looking at how to operate more sustainably," Kras says. "There are all kinds of targets attached to that. Coca-Cola, for example, has said that by 2025 all their packaging should be recyclable and preferably made of recycled material. REKS can provide solutions for that."
"We may want to start with 10 million kilos of waste this year, but the aim is to double production capacity within two years. We have already anticipated that," Kwakman said.
High-quality recycled plastic
"There is currently no other company in Europe that can supply this kind of high-quality recycled plastic product at such a low price and in huge volumes," assures Kwakman. "We capitalised on this by jointly buying 82,000 square metres of land in Kosovo some 7 km away from the KIVO factory in Kosovo.
These developments are important for the future of both KRAS and KIVO. For example, as a plastic producer, KIVO is fully exploring which products are redundant, can be made thinner and from recycled material. KIVO is slowly cutting out the unsustainable products. "I think in 10 years' time, KIVO will only realise circular solutions, together with partners. Sustainability will be the biggest opportunity for all of us," Kwakman says.
Cooperation within the chain
It is up to us (the industry) to ensure even more developments and practical solutions against the drawbacks of plastic. Even to replace plastic where really better alternatives are applicable. Kwakman: "We are always innovating and ultimately want to ensure a future-proof product that we can and should be proud of. REKS is part of that, but for us it goes even further than the immediate sphere of influence. By working together within the chain from raw material to end use and reuse, but also with (local) governments and institutes, we can enable research, education, control and smart infrastructures."
