RAUKANTEX: Now even more sustainable

As REHAU has proved through its past actions, the company takes the issue of sustainability seriously – and that goes for RAUKANTEX edgeband solutions too. Now the Interior Solutions division is introducing the next stage: REHAU ReTurn, the new component in the RAUKANTEX eco.protect portfolio. This recycling concept represents the first step in making edgebands part of a long-term resource cycle. With immediate effect, customers can return unused edgebands, preferably in their original packaging, to REHAU free of charge. REHAU will then turn these edgebands into new products.

Customers also benefit from the ReTurn circular concept

The new service deals with unprocessed edgebands made from ABS and PP. By returning these, customers ensure the materials can be reused in the form of recycled matter without needing to be thermally recycled. The procedure is as follows: customers with stocks of complete and unprocessed edgeband coils can report these quantities to REHAU. REHAU collects the materials from the customer and ships them on to specific collection points. Any quantities left over are then sorted and processed into regrind. REHAU bears the costs of transport and processing. The recycled material is then fed back into production. This benefits not only the environment but also the customer by generating savings on disposal costs, cutting storage costs and making room for logistics. Most importantly of all, in partnership with REHAU, customers play an active part in reducing CO₂ emissions while conserving resources. Through this, they are paving the way for the accomplishment of future recycling targets in relation to plastics – targets currently being defined as part of the European Green Deal. The core elements of this will be: A ban on the thermal recycling of plastics, an increase in recycling rates and the mandatory use of recycled materials for production.

A circular economy as the next step in a comprehensive sustainability concept.

The circular initiative is the next logical step in the development of ‘green’ edgebands. That said, the scheme is just one more component in a spectrum of activities that REHAU has been expanding for years. Since 2020, for example, European edgeband production facilities have used 100 percent renewable energy sources which have been generated in-house. Two sustainable product lines have also been introduced: for the production of RAUKANTEX eco, 50 percent post-industrial recycled matter is used, while RAUKANTEX evo is produced using non-fossil primary raw materials instead of crude oil (in contrast to conventional polypropylene edgebands). “Also, the countries of the EMEA region have already phased out PVC edgeband production,” says Daniel Elfe-Degel. “We will keep on following this path, having taken a fresh, big step with the ReTurn recycling concept.”

• For full details of REHAU ReTurn and the RAUKANTEX eco.protect concept