Govaerts Recycling

Govaerts recycling believes strongly in the cradle to cradle principle. “Our products are made of materials that are 97 per cent recycled and are themselves completely recyclable. They are produced using green energy and pretty much without any production waste.”

The Belgian company Govaerts Recycling, operates in 23 countries, uses recycled plastic to make planks, poles, beams and panels under the brand name ‘Govaplast’. “Our products are an excellent alternative to wood,” explains Eddy Govaerts, co-owner of Govaerts Recycling. “Not only do we produce poles and beams in various colours, we also make things like scaffolding, patios, fences, play apparatus, and street and park furniture. Our aim is to limit our impact on the environment as much as possible. Our economic activity runs entirely on recycling.”

As pure as possible

“All Govaplast products are made entirely of plastic,” says Eddy Govaerts. “The resources we use for our solid planks and poles are recycled polyolefins (PE, PP). We use both post-industrial and post-consumer granulates, which we select carefully from waste flows in neighbouring countries. Our suppliers are required to satisfy several strict criteria. We want to know exactly where the granulates are from and how pure the material is. Our recycling department can cope with a certain degree of pollution, but the cleaner the better.”

Repeatedly recyclable

“Our products are made from 97 per cent recycled granulates. The other 3 per cent consists of colours and additives to improve the quality of the material. After use, our products are 100 per cent recyclable. Customers buying our scaffolding and furnishings can simply return the plastic at the end of its useful life. We sort and grind it down to make new granulates for use as a raw material in more new products. Our production process is a model example of the cradle-to-cradle philosophy. Thanks to this, we have already gained a QA-CER certificate: proof that we use a sustainable process to convert recyclates into high-quality finished goods.”

Exclusively green energy

In addition to using recycled granulates alone, Govaerts Recycling also tries to make its production process as environmentally friendly as possible. “Our energy is exclusively green and we recycle the water we use for cooling. This allows us to limit our ecological footprint as much as possible. There’s no question of production waste at our place, because everything is reused as a raw material.”

Weatherproof and maintenance free

“Scaffolding, furniture and fencing made of recycled plastic all offer many advantages. Our products last much longer than wooden alternatives. We always offer a 10-year guarantee. The long life gives a significant ecological advantage, and certainly in combination with the full recyclability of our products. In comparison with wood, our plastic is very user-friendly: it is both weatherproof and splinter-free. Nor do our products require any maintenance.”