Packaging film maker Mannheim, Germany-based RKW Group will invest a seven-figure sum in a new extrusion line at its Echte, Germany, site for the production of plastic films with a high level of recycled content.
RKW’s Echte facility is the company’s center of competence for industrial packaging. The new plant will expand the production capacity.
The new five-layer extrusion line is the latest of several investments at the site, where currently some 240 are employed.
"We want to offer our customers more sustainable packaging solutions for industrial packaging with new formulations. This includes, for example, a steadily growing proportion of recycled plastics in the packaging. State-of-the-art equipment like this enables us to do that," said site director Markus Brinkmann.
RKW’s industrial packaging business comprises the research, development and production of FFS and ProVent sacks for powdery goods such as cement or other building materials, sugar, spices or salt and various chemicals. The company also produces valve box sacks, transport packaging and garbage bags.
RKW’s product range includes 100 percent recyclable mono-material films made from polyethylene and the company is developing new recipes in order to be able to incorporate recycled material without any loss of quality, specifically for the new five-layer extrusion line. Older lines with only three extruders are severely limited in this respect.
The investment also will improve energy efficiency at the plant to improve sustainablity.
RKW’s sites in Western Europe all run on electricity exclusively from renewable energy sources, a measure that saves some 100,000 metric tons in CO2 emissions per year, or around 60 per cent of RKW's direct emissions worldwide compared to 2019.
The other sites are also gradually being converted to green electricity, the company said. New, energy-efficient machinery and cooling systems, modern production processes and precise measurement and control equipment all serve to curb the company’s energy requirement. LED lighting is being installed across the sites.