toom Baumarkt introduces paint buckets made almost entirely from recycled plastic in Germany / Interior Paint with a Positive Impact on the Carbon Footprint

Toom Baumarkt (REWE group), one of the leading German DIY-companies, has been offering the first paint bucket which is made almost entirely from recycled plastic. Together with the leading European paint manufacturer J.W. Ostendorf and the recycling professionals from Interseroh, toom is the first to offer a product that has been manufactured almost entirely from "domestic recycling" and which offers the same material properties as products made from primary resources. 

In total more than 320 toom stores across Germany toom Baumarkt will market the paint bucket. Initially, the paint bucket will be introduced in connection with white wall paint, but an extension of the product portfolio has not been ruled out.

Detlef Riesche, toom Baumarkt's managing director responsible for sustainability, explains why a decision was made in favour of this material for the packaging of his favourite wall paint from the quality brand range toom: “For toom and all of the REWE group sustainability is the focus of all their actions – the same is naturally true for our products. The use of packaging made from 100 per cent recycled plastic is the next logical step for toom premium paints which are already identified by the PRO PLANET label as products providing an added ecological benefit. The most interesting fact about the substance procyclen is that it has been manufactured almost entirely from old plastic taken from household recycling bins, while nevertheless enabling the production of demanding products such as paint buckets.”

This is the very reason why recycled plastics had until now been used for technically less demanding products explains Kai Bastuck, managing director of INTERSEROH Pool GmbH, in charge of the project. “Consistent quality and availability were up to now eliminating factors for recycled plastic. With our innovative process we have achieved the introduction of the first products made from procyclen into shops.” Bastuck explains that now plastic manufacturers do not need to shy away from recycled plastic because of the guaranteed high quality standards of procyclen, particularly in terms of technical material properties.

High Security of Supply – Stable Prices 

Dr. Hans-Joachim Weintz, J.W. Ostendorf’s director of technological enterprise development, also confirms: “While usability of recycled plastic proved to be a problem for machines for a long time, procyclen now provides a viable alternative which complies with the high requirements for mechanical and hygienic properties for use in paint packaging.” Apart from quality, two further decisive factors also speak for the use of procyclen: “Security of supply as well as stable prices.”

Interseroh obtains its raw materials from domestic recycling bins, which can be found on every street in every town. Kai Bastuck of Interseroh: “These resources are always available. Therefore we can offer a high security of supply with predictable costs.” And last but not least the use of recycled materials contributes to sustainable behaviour: discarded disposable packaging from recycling bins is returned to the production cycle and natural resources are being preserved which has a positive impact on the carbon footprint.

The Bucket is only the Beginning

Interseroh considers itself to be on the right path: “Many speak of closed loops, but most cannot maintain them – at least not without the quality of the plastic produced suffering. We are able to show now that it is possible to satisfy highest customer demand with the help of fully developed technology. In practice we have the opportunity to satisfy any customer request through our procedure to recycle the extracted plastic granules,” describes Bastuck. In the meantime more firm enquiries regarding procyclen have been received from various fields of industry.