Masterflex SE, the connection and hose systems manufacturer based in Gelsenkirchen, Germany and Remondis Recycling GmbH & Co. KG, located in Essen have announced a new partnership aimed at establishing a circular economy for industrial products made from high-performance engineering plastics. Their initial target will be the market for hose and connection systems. These products, which find application across the board in virtually every industrial sector, from food to microchip production, as well as in daily life, are currently disposed of by professional companies such as environmental services provider and recycler, Remondis.
The companies are now launching a project together aimed at closing the loop for the hoses and connection systems produced by Masterflex, ultimately returning these to the production cycle.
In 2019, Masterflex launched its Ampius portal, a sensor-based asset management system that maps the group's hoses and connection solutions and their life cycle as digital twins and that can make this data to users available at any time. As a result, lifecycle tracking and predictive maintenance have become just two of the smart solutions made possible by the app.
Until now, however, a number of important players in the circular supply chain have been missing, said Masterflex CEO Andreas Bastin. As a result, the company was unable to establish a standard offiering for the market.
Remondis wants to close the missing links in the chain for a true circular economy by managing the return and material processing together with Masterflex, based on the data from the Ampius system.
The companies will jointly conceive and develop the overall functionality of the desired recycling management system including the actual benefits for the customer.
"Without a doubt, we are still at the very beginning of our journey towards a closed-loop recycling system for high-tech plastic industrial products,” emphasised Bastin. Masterflex recently launched its Hero@Zero initiative, which will see the current range of services expanding to include take-back, recycling and eco-certification. “The aim is an endless circular economy of plastic hoses,” said Bastin. As a ‘Hero’ in the hose and connection systems market, the Masterflex Group will commit to using no - ‘Zero’ - additional resources.
In the long term, therefore, new business models will be developed based on the concept of a circular economy, that are ecologically and economically attractive for customers and partners.
The project is also being supported by Remondis Digital Services GmbH, the innovation hub founded by Remondis.
"We are pleased that we can not only support this project with our internal and external logistics, but above all with our high level of expertise in all questions relating to optimal sorting and processing of plastics,” noted Jürgen F. Ephan, managing director of Remondis Recycling.
“Together we are on the way to closing another meaningful cycle, protecting natural resources and reducing CO2 emissions.”