Fair Recycled Plastic: recycled plastic

In many parts of the world, the daily quantities of waste pose a major challenge for cities and often entire countries. Especially in developing and emerging countries, municipal waste management is insufficiently organised or non-existent. The result: vast amounts of waste – including plastic waste that make their way into nature – the consequences include microplastics and marine plastic.

In Asia, many regions are affected by the growing mountains of garbage – including the 12-million-strong metropolis of Bangalore in India. Once called the Garden City because of its beautiful gardens, it is now often called Garbagecity by locals. About 3,500 tons of waste a day are neither properly disposed of nor collected here – and accordingly not recycled. They end up as mountains of garbage on roadsides or in one of the city's approximately 60 illegal landfills.

The mountains of waste in Bangalore create precarious jobs – around 15,000 to 20,000 people in the city try to make a living as waste pickers. They collect waste all day long, which they can resell – and usually without appropriate protective clothing, masks or gloves. With their low income, they are usually unable to feed their families. A large number of waste pickers live in slums directly on the landfill.

The company, founded in Bangalore for the Fair Recycled Plastic project, is called Vishuddh Recycle and is a social business. In addition to Cofresco, Yunus Social Business GmbH, founded by Nobel Peace Prize winner and economist Prof. Muhammad Yunus, was also involved in the development of the company. Prof. Muhammad Yunus is the originator of the principle of social business, in which all profits generated by a company are reinvested or flow into the local community.

By creating jobs in Bangalore and expanding structures in the waste sector, the working conditions of around 2,000 waste pickers and their families are to be sustainably improved. In addition, the company supports non-profit organizations such as Smile on Wheels and Hasiru Dala Trust, which are committed to providing medical care and educational opportunities for waste pickers and their families – and thus also improving their living conditions.

In contrast to one-time donations and short-term projects, the Bangalore-based company creates a business that generates sales and is thus self-financing. By reducing plastic waste, creating jobs and supporting local communities, it creates a long-term and sustainable perspective for the local community. In our blog post With Vishuddh Recycle from plastic waste in India to Swirl® garbage bags , you can learn more about the social aspects of our commitment in Bangalore.

With Fair Recycled Plastic, the Melitta Group has launched a pioneering project that collects waste in Bangalore in a sensible way and recycles it sustainably. Based on the principle of the circular economy, plastics that would otherwise end up in nature, in illegal landfills or in fires are collected, processed and returned to the material cycle.

Certified local cooperation partners collect the plastics, which are still processed into granules in Bangalore. The Melitta Group has built a new recycling plant in the city especially for this purpose. The aim is not only to reduce plastic waste in the streets of Bangalore – the production of recyclate also creates new jobs in Bangalore. Initially, 20 employees will work in the plant – in the future, more than 50 people will be employed directly by the company.

The processed plastic waste makes its way to Europe as a new raw material. Here it is fed into the garbage bag production at Swirl® and handy bag®. In our article From plastic waste in India to Swirl® garbage bags, you can learn more about the exact processes - and how Indian plastic waste is given a new life as Swirl® garbage bags.

As an individual, you can contribute to environmental protection by participating in cleanup campaigns . Search online for local environmental organizations and community groups, and find out about local events in your area. Many cities and towns regularly organize cleanups that you can get involved in. You can also participate in international days of action such as World Cleanup Day, which takes place annually in September.

In many ways, of course, it sounds like plastic and sustainability are two mutually exclusive things. Clearly, plastic in nature is harmful – it pollutes the environment and oceans, making it a problem that needs to be solved as quickly as possible.

Plastics have special properties – they are hygienic because they are easy to clean and resistant to moisture and bacteria. They also serve as a transport aid and can extend the shelf life of food. Other materials with these properties often have a significantly worse eco-balance. Plastic is therefore a valuable raw material, but it is only possible to recycle it when it is properly collected and processed – a procedure promoted by Fair Recycled Plastic (FRP). If all quality standards are met in the extraction of the recyclate, products made from recycled plastic are in no way inferior to those made from newly produced plastic.

Apart from the Fair Recycled Plastic Initiative, we at Cofresco have made the "Mission 100% Circular" an important part of our strategy. We have been working for years to steadily increase the proportion of sustainable materials in our products. This conserves resources and the climate. Our goal is to have as many products as possible fully part of the recycling cycle. They are then made exclusively from recycled or renewable materials – and can be fully recycled or composted after use. If you would like to learn more about our sustainability initiatives and efforts, you can find more information on our page on sustainability and the plastic cycle in garbage bags.

The Fair Recycled Plastic Initiative by Cofresco and the Melitta Group is a pioneering project that collects, processes and recycles plastic waste in Bangalore in a meaningful way. The recycling process conserves valuable resources, reduces pollution and creates new jobs. The project improves the living conditions of waste pickers in Bangalore and contributes to the sustainable development of the community. Together with Yunus Social Business GmbH, we have launched the Vishuddh Recycle recycling plant, a company that offers a long-term perspective for the region. Fair Recycled Plastic is an important step towards the circular economy and shows us how we as a company can make a positive contribution to environmental protection. In the future, the initiative will continue to help reduce plastic waste and find sustainable solutions for dealing with waste.