Plastic trash. Photo: Circe Denyer.

CTech – “We have given ourselves a short-term goal that by 2025 more than half of our raw materials will be made out of recycled materials,” Iftach Sachar, co-CEO and MD Global Marketing, Innovation, and Sustainability at Keter Plastic said during an interview as part of Calcalist’s online conference on the circular economy. According to Sachar, the company is already leading the way when it comes to the use of recycled materials in manufacturing, with its current rate of 40% far above that of the competition.

“It is very difficult to manufacture products from recycled raw materials because the materials are hard to work with, but we are answering the challenge and attacking it from the earliest stages of product development and manufacturing process design, so that at the end of the process, we will be able to include as much as possible of the recycled materials into our products. We use 120 tons of recycled raw materials and that’s a good starting point relative to our competitors. We will eventually reach a company-wide average of 55% recycled materials, but we already have products that are made out of 100% recycled materials. Some of our garden furniture is made up of 80% recycled materials and some of our packaging is even 100% recycled,” Sachar said.

“We are not evading the link between the use of plastic and environmental harm, but rather are facing it head-on. Sustainability is a broad and diverse issue and as a company that manufactures plastic products, we have for years been involved in the circular economy and our role within it. When it comes to circularity, there is an important emphasis on what’s done with plastic products at the end of their lifecycle and we have taken on a very active role and a lot of responsibility in that respect too. I hope to think that we are providing at least the beginnings of a solution when it comes to our activity of plastic product reclamation. To that end, we cooperate with several local authorities in Israel, gathering used products and taking them to our plants for shredding and reuse as raw materials for new products,” Sachar explained.

“We may not be a logistics company, but we have a responsibility also for that part of the process and we take an active role in the transfer of used products such as garden furniture. We decided that we didn’t want to be part of the problem and instead be part of the solution, which is why we decided to take part in the reclamation efforts. Sustainability is not just about using recycled materials, it’s about being a responsible manufacturer that is active in the community. We are also making efforts to make our manufacturing process greener by using solar panels and energy-saving lighting, reducing our energy usage,” Sachar concluded.