Svetbaleni.cz visited the operations of Bewi Circular in Slaný. Bewi Group, headquartered in Norway, acquired a 34% stake in the recycling company Inoplast a few years ago, and now fully owns and continues to develop its operations. Representatives from the company’s top management in Scandinavia are currently on-site in Slaný overseeing the operations.
They are showcasing the unique technology primarily to representatives of international and local institutions and companies. Artem Ocheretin, the General Manager of Bewi Czechia, guided the packaging world through the entire process of mechanical recycling of used polystyrene into granules, which are then used in other European branches of the Bewi Group to produce insulation boards for use in construction or new material for customized packaging for specific products (the process takes place in the European plants of the Bewi Raw division). In Slaný, they process 10,000 to 12,000 tons of material annually.
The polystyrene destined for recycling is compacted in compactors before transport to Slaný, allowing 12 to 15 tons to be loaded onto a single truck. The resulting granules are shipped in sacks placed on pallets (each sack holds 1200 kg of granules) and transported again by trucks. The material accepted for recycling mainly consists of used boxes for frozen fish and electronic packaging, mainly from abroad. Bewi Circular is currently exploring options to collect a larger quantity of polystyrene for recycling directly in the Czech Republic. To make its transport to the processing site economical, it is necessary to compact it with the aforementioned compactors so that the transported material has the most favourable volume-to-weight ratio.
Users of recycled plastics were also present on-site. Representatives from Bewi Circular, providing technology for closed-loop recycling, met in Slaný with representatives from five leading users of recycled plastics from the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, and Poland.
The aim of these meetings is to prepare for the EU deadline in 2025, by which 65% of plastic packaging must be recyclable.
It is very positive that the Czech industry is taking timely steps in the area of packaging as part of the commitments of companies in the ESG field. However, it is not surprising – the Czech Republic has long been ahead in the field of sustainability.
Aljosa Krizman, CEO of Bewi Circular
Recycling is now a major focus of corporate management throughout Europe. The revision of Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste as part of the EU Circular Economy package mandates that all packaging materials entering the market must be recycled by January 2030 and must be fully recyclable by January 2035. A total of 65% of plastic packaging is to be recyclable by 2025.
Czech companies are exploring options for recycling packaging materials and taking proactive steps much earlier than necessary, which is great.
Artem Ocheretin, CEO of BEWI Czechia
Similar report by: technickytydenik.cz