Recycling

Recycling can play an important role in helping our entire value chain in decreasing the eco- and carbon-footprint. We want to reuse aramid as a raw material for the production of Twaron pulp or Twaron spun yarn. In 2010 we made a comparison between virgin pulp and recycled pulp on costs and ecological burdens. It turned out that additional steps were needed to manufacture recycled pulp, such as collecting it from many different sites in the market. Our Eco-Efficiency Analysis however shows that these extra investments do yield ecological benefits relative to virgin pulp. The use of recycled pulp leads to fewer emissions, less toxicity and less wastewater. This is one more way in which we can reduce our eco- and carbon footprint.

We began our recycling activities in 2008. We buy back aramid from ballistic vests, cut protective gloves, optical fiber cables, but also (contaminated) fabric scrap and yarn leftovers. These are sorted, tested on quality and processed into Twaron pulp and Twaron spun yarn. Today, a large amount of the feedstocks for our plant in Arnhem come from recycled aramid. In the graph below you can see an overview of the total of materials that are offered for recycling.

Our aim is to investigate existing methods or to develop new methods to utilize other aramid scrap, containing various finishes, resins and yarn. We also would like to cooperate with our customers as much as possible, by being a solution provider when it comes to aramid scrap. Plus, we can also support our customers with new environmental regulations and legislation by selling recycled products to them. Together with our customer we can make an important contribution to the sustainability of our industry.

Click here to read more about how we can buy back your aramid.

Internal recycling

To reduce the amount of waste we produce, we have expanded our policy of internal recycling over the past few years . Our plant in Emmen, in particular, has vastly increased the amount of material it recycles, largely in the form of packaging material.