New trading and service portal for recycled plastics goes live
plastship (www.plastship.com), successfully launched on May 6, 2019, is a new trading and service platform for buyers and sellers of regrinds, re-granulates and recyclates plus, in the near future, also of additives for tailoring the properties of recycled materials, as well as associated services. Operating under the slogan “new thinking for the circular economy”, the portal’s services include independent assessment of the recyclability of plastics packaging and products for complete product ranges and their impact on selected environmental factors. plastship also provides consultancy in optimising product sustainability in terms of design for recycling and the use of recyclates. The new platform is available in German and English. Managing directors are Andreas Bastian and Konstantin Humm. The principal shareholder is RIGK GmbH which has over 25 years of experience as a provider of recovery systems and recycling solutions for all kinds of plastics and packaging.
plastship provides the possibility to place and buy spot volumes, for example due to overcapacities or in the form of off-spec materials, as well as standard recycling grades from continuous production. Over and above materials, the plan is also to provide a forum for buying and selling contract services ranging from grinding or warehousing to compounding. The portal provides functionality for placing calls for bids if a search does not lead directly to a result. All the offer and search functions on the portal can be used free of charge. Commission only becomes payable once users conclude a contract between themselves.
Andreas Bastian explains, “plastship’s three most important aims are to establish new applications for recycled plastics, to simplify and accelerate the use of recycled plastics and to develop uniform quality and information standards for recycled plastics. We provide all-round support for all parties. Well thought-out, user-friendly navigation makes it easier to identify the grade, properties and possibly the trade name of all the materials on offer, whilst a uniform standard ensures comparability. In addition to procuring materials, plastship’s support can also extend to organizing shipment of the material and delivery of sample quantities. As a result, plastship provides plastics recyclers with simple, rapid access to new clients which means they can devote the time they save to their core business.”
Cooperation with plastship also allows smaller recycling operators to reduce distribution costs. plastship can assist brand owners in using recycled pellets from the outset of a project to its successful implementation.
The new platform had already been in trial operation for around three months with pilot customers and, as a result, has an attractive range of recycled pellets and regrinds on offer right from the official start of business. As Konstantin Humm says, “The debate around making appropriate use of plastics has never been more vigorous than at present and EU requirements for the reuse of plastics are very demanding. The use of recycled materials is therefore becoming increasingly significant and can also be a compelling sales argument. From the outset, this new platform offers manufacturers of plastics products wishing to pursue this trend an attractive forum for meeting strongly growing demand for high quality recycled materials which comply with specific requirements.”
