As a founding member of the ERDE initiative (Erntekunststoffe Recycling Deutschland), RKW has committed to collecting and recycling 65 per cent of all silage and stretch films sold on the German market by 2022.
RKW and ERDE Initiative: Voluntary Commitment for 2022
RKW is a co-founder of the ERDE Recycling initiative. Along with other ERDE members, RKW has committed to collect and recycle 65 per cent of all agricultural films sold in Germany by 2022.
ERDE members also agreed to extend the return system to other agricultural plastics such as bale nets and asparagus films.
The voluntary commitment was presented in Berlin during a parliamentary evening of the plastics processing industry on 26 June to Dr Regina Dube, Head of the Department Water Management, Resource Protection and Adaptation to Climate Change.
ERDE will review the effectiveness of the voluntary commitment by 1 May 2023 and define further measures and objectives in co-operation with the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU).
Thomas Gröner, Director Corporate R&D and Sustainability RKW Group, said: "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."
RKW and the other ERDE members are also committed to collecting other agricultural plastics in the return and recovery system.
ERDE collected 13,433 tonnes of agricultural films in 2018.
ERDE was founded by RKW together with three other film manufacturers under the umbrella of the Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen e.V. association and in co-operation with the disposal specialist RIGK.