Agricultural Plastics – Potential for Recycling:

Wiesbaden, February 2017 – In cooperation with the European Association of Plastics Recycling & Recovery Organisations (epro), RIGK GmbH invites to the 2nd International Recycling Forum "Agricultural Plastics – Potential for Recycling" in Wiesbaden from 26 to 28 April 2017. Building on the outstanding success of the first event in autumn 2015 which attracted around 120 participants from 22 countries, the upcoming symposium will also provide current information about national initiatives, the state of the art and trends in recycling agricultural plastics. Innovative products and services in the recycling field will be showcased in the accompanying exhibition.

A keynote speech by Professor Helmut Maurer of the European Commission will be followed by presentations on collection and recycling in this sector, including a look at the situation in certain emerging and developing nations, as well as by thematic blocks on collection systems, technological developments, motives and incentives for recycling agricultural plastics and on current trends in the sector. The speakers are set to come from European countries including Iceland and from Chile, South Africa and Canada. An evening reception at Kloster-Eberbach, a monastery used in the shooting of Umberto Eco's "The Name of the Rose" (1985), will round the forum off, providing the ideal setting for international networking.

As Jan Bauer, RIGK, explains: "Growing demand for foodstuffs from the world's population means we must always be striving to improve efficiency in growing animal feed and field crops. Plastics products such as agricultural films, netting and yarns, irrigation systems, packaging for plant protection products and fertilisers or hygiene products have a valuable contribution to make here. Taking action to conserve resources and ensure sustainable business practices is a global obligation. So all players must aim to organize that as much used agricultural plastic as possible is taken back and safely recovered, exploiting the significant potential for recycling of these materials. Our second symposium will again present tried and tested solutions, suggest possible options and provide encouragement to take action."

Attendance will cost € 646 with or € 576 without the evening event (prices include 19% VAT). The conference venue is the Dorint Pallas hotel in Wiesbaden. The language of the conference is English. For registration form and further information, list of exhibitors and conference programme, see https://www.international-recycling-forum.de/. Contacts are Mareike di Leo (dileo@rigk.de, +49 611 308600-10) and Gloria Diaz (diaz@rigk.de, +49 611 308600-19).

As a certified specialist company for trademark users (fillers, distributors, traders and importers), RIGK GmbH (www.rigk.de), founded in 1992, organises the recovery of used, empty packaging and plastics from its German customers and arranges the safe and sustainable recycling of them. In addition, the company provides advice on the development of individual recovery and recycling solutions. On an international level, RIGK is represented in Romania and Chile. The Romanian subsidiary (www.rigk.ro) also undertakes the recovery and recycling of used packaging and plastics there. RIGK Chile SpA (www.rigk.de/profil/rigk-chile-spa.html) advises local industry in establishing their systems and complying with legal environmental and recycling constraints. The shareholders of RIGK GmbH are well-known manufacturers of plastics and packaging. RIGK GmbH has been a member of EPRO since 2006, where it established the working group for the recycling of agricultural plastics waste.

EPRO, the European Association of Plastics Recycling and Recovery Organisations (www.epro-plasticsrecycling.org), is a pan-European partnership of specialist organisations that are able to develop and deliver efficient solutions for the sustainable management of plastics waste, now and for the future. EPRO members are working to optimise national effectiveness through international cooperation: by studying successful approaches, evaluating different solutions and examining obstacles to progress. By working together, EPRO members can achieve synergies that will increase efficient plastics recycling and recovery. Currently 19 organisations in 16 countries are represented in EPRO.

Further information:

RIGK GmbH
Claudia Hoese
Marketing and Customer Care
Friedrichstr. 6, D-65185 Wiesbaden
Tel.: +49 611 308600-12, Fax: -30
E-Mail: hoese@rigk.de; www.rigk.de

Editorial contact and specimen copies:
Konsens PR GmbH & Co. KG
Dr. Jörg Wolters
Hans-Kudlich-Strasse 25
D-64823 Gross-Umstadt
Tel.: +49 6078 9363-0, Fax: -20
E-mail: joerg.wolters@konsens.de; www.konsens.de