WACKER POLYMERS Switches to IBC Storage Tanks Made of Recycled Plastic

The new IBC tanks are made of two layers of rigid polyethylene (HDPE). While the outer layer is made from shredded and melted down old tanks, the inner layer, which comes into contact with the dispersion, is still made from new HDPE. The slightly yellowish coloration of the recycled tanks results from contained copper salts, which are used as co-biocides in the recycled layer.

Compared to conventional IBC tanks, only the color changes in the sustainable tanks. The product properties, such as stability and purity, are identical.

Since each IBC tank, which is partly made of recycled plastic, saves more than six kilos of CO₂, WACKER POLYMERS in Burghausen and Cologne saves more than 200 metric tons of this greenhouse gas per year. This is roughly equivalent to more than 1.5 million kilometers that a person travels by car each year.

Starting in February 2022, all IBC tanks for WACKER POLYMERS' dispersions from Cologne and Burghausen will gradually be converted to the sustainable IBC variant.

Already, another logistics and packaging measure – the recent switch of dispersible polymer powder packaging material to unbleached brown paper bags – is saving WACKER POLYMERS' two German production sites around 180 metric tons of CO₂ per year. By switching to IBC tanks made of recycled plastic, WACKER POLYMERS is making a further contribution to sustainability.