Kautex pledges to ‘walk the walk' on sustainability

If sustainability is to become immersed in the plastics industry, companies need to wake up and work together to find product solutions, the head of extrusion blow molding machine producer Kautex Maschinenbau said at K 2022.

"When do we start to learn faster and lead change," said Thomas Hartkämper, CEO and chief sustainability officer of Bonn, Germany-based Kautex, during a news briefing at the trade show. "Plastics is one of the most sustainable materials on planet Earth, and there's no lack of it. But we need to take action now."

An abundance of blow molding equipment companies at K 2022 discussed how their machines are energy-efficient or use post-consumer resin effectively. While energy efficiency is important, the industry will soon reach peak efficiency and not be able to reduce energy much more, said Paulo Gomes, Kautex chief technology officer.

And while showcasing machine capabilities to produce post-consumer resin is also important, putting that into action with new products on the market is more critical, Hartkämper said. "You must walk the walk and not just talk the talk," he said. "It's not just a matter of being able to use recycled material."

Kautex is focusing its attention on upcycling, or reprocessing material from products already on the market and using it for new applications. Hartkämper said that circular approach and putting a focus on customers' products is the more sustainable path forward.

For its part, Kautex is increasing its focus on sustainable product innovation. Scattered around its K 2022 booth were watering cans made of polypropylene. The cans were processed from fishing nets recovered from ocean waters and were provided by resin producer Braskem. Other solutions at the booth included a kayak hanging from the ceiling that uses as much as 70 percent recycled content and an intermediate bulk container and hydrogen storage unit with layers of recycled resin.

Tellingly, the company was showcasing no equipment, only products, at its booth. That was part of Hartkämper's vision that he spelled out at the show: to create leading change and added value for customers.

"Why do we exist?" he asked. "Because we can be on the same team with customers and partners for sustainability. Only together can we do that."

Hartkämper joined Kautex in 2019 and become CEO a year later, replacing Olaf Weiland, who joined the company's advisory board. Hartkämper, formerly with Husky Injection Molding Systems and several others, added the title of chief sustainability officer in October 2021 and has been working to transform the culture of Kautex, a world leader in extrusion blow molding equipment.

He said he realizes there is a long way to go. While the plastic watering cans are in the market, they are still being produced in small volumes. Collection is an ongoing issue, Hartkämper said, as is finding partners willing to take the risks of shifting to recycled resin. The company plans to go directly to brand owners as partners.

Gomes said hurdles remain in using recycling content, no matter how much companies talk about it. Those include the higher prices of recycling vs. virgin material and process inefficiencies that still must be worked out, he said. But the future will open up opportunities, as more companies embrace the use of post-consumer resin, Gomes said.

The company has a quest to become zero-waste in its operations. It has introduced standardized, modular machines that reduce waste and avoid the use of unnecessary components, Gomes said.

Kautex has moved even further into digital processes, expanding its information technology to allow for more specific data to be collected and analyzed and pinpointing where waste can be reduced, Gomes said. Its machines offer both augmented and virtual reality to help visualize issues and get to the core of a problem, quickly, he said.

Meanwhile, Kautex continues to expand its footprint in Asia and Latin America and also operates a U.S. operation, Kautex Americas, in Flemington, N.J., and a service center in Georgia.

But it is in working with partners to expand the global footprint of sustainable products that Hartkämper believes will make the company a leader in that space.

"There are a lot of opportunities, and plastics is all around us," he said. "It is a matter of mindset to make plastics the solution to sustainability and not the problem."