krafton®’s CSR and our guaranteed return policy

Corporate Social Responsibility is one of krafton®’s main priorities. In our situation, this means that we feel an obligation to act responsibly, produce responsibly and deliver a product that is as sustainable as possible.

Innovative projects and charitable causes
krafton® has a policy of contributing to prestigious innovative and sustainable developments. This is reflected by our support for the HAN ‘Solarboat’ project set up by students of Hogeschool Arnhem Nijmegen, for which we sponsored the GRP profiles. We like to contribute to a world where behaving in an eco-friendly manner is attractive to both young and old. We also support charitable causes; for example, we supplied materials for building emergency housing units to Stichting Projecthulp Haïti in 2010.

Recycling and krafton®’s guaranteed return policy

krafton® has drawn up a guaranteed return policy in order to optimise our recycling concept for customers.
Composites are characterised by a very long service life. Research shows that the service life approaches 100 years when the material is constructed properly and subjected to timely sporadic quality checks in a controlled manufacturing process. Although the time when the material will be recycled lies far in the future, krafton® has still given careful consideration to this aspect. A report drawn up by EuCIA concludes, based on extensive research, that viable methods for recycling composite materials definitely exist.

Due to the very strong bonds between the synthetic resins and fibre strand reinforcement, breaking composite materials down into their component parts is extremely difficult. The aspect which makes a composite such a strong structural material is a challenging obstacle in this respect. Fortunately, creative solutions have been found; for example, part of the final composite material can be ground down and then mixed with concrete. This acts as an extremely strong, but also light, form of additional reinforcement for concrete and increases the structural strength. The remainder of the composite material can be incinerated in order to recover energy in the form of heat. The combustion process is completely clean and does not generate toxic chemicals.

Furthermore, krafton® is currently developing its own process for recycling shredded GRP material to make new, high-quality products.

krafton®’s guaranteed return policy
To ensure the suitability of our composites for the circular economy of the future, customers can return krafton® GRP profiles and bridge decking components to us when they are no longer in use. This guaranteed return policy plays a pivotal role in encouraging reuse of GRP materials.
Finally, we continuously look for new applications for recycled glass fibre-reinforced plastics. In the light of this, producing new GRP products that are viable for defined applications is an important area of focus for krafton® because the properties of recycled glass fibre materials differ significantly from those of our virgin glass fibre-reinforced plastic profiles and bridge decking elements. In addition, we have set up collaborations with companies that specialise in recycling.

Want to know more about environmentally responsible GRP concepts?

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