On the 1st of November, Van Werven and an Irish partner started recycling hard plastics in the Irish Republic and in Northern Ireland. The activities take place in Dublin and Ballymena as Van Werven Ireland and Van Werven Northern Ireland.
Changing legislation was the opportunity for Van Werven to expand its plastic recycling activities. ‘‘The closing of 75% of the lanfillsites and the ban on incineration of re-usable waste was an immediate stimulus for us,’’ explains Ton van der Giessen, managing director at Van Werven.
As a result of the sorting obligation for industrial waste, several installations were built for sorting industrial waste in 2017. The sorted plastics were often exported to China, but now the Chinese government has closed its borders for plastic waste, Van Werven offers a better alternative. In Ballymena the plastics get sorted. In Dublin, Van Werven will organize the further recycling process as well as the sorting of plastics. The recycled materials will get sold in Ireland, the UK and the mainland of Europe. Ton van der Giessen: ‘‘When the legislation offers the correct guidance measures, the rest of the market will fill itself. Without these measures there was no recycling sector. Together we can maintain materials in the economy and reduce the CO2 emissions.’’
With this expansion, Van Werven will have a recycling capacity for hard plastics of 120.000 tons a year in 2018. The secondary materials get used in high-end applications such as new furniture, the building sector, the automotive industry and in household items.