“We are asking for more understanding for our industry as there are currently severe limitations concerning the availability of raw materials,” says Jan Willem Wieringa, CEO and Managing Director of Desch Plantpak, a producer of recycled plastic flower pots, and also board member of the Dutch Federation of the Rubber and Plastics Industry (NRK). ”Many cannot even meet the current demand, let alone meet the newly announced environmental goals, such as reducing carbon black pigment, as it provides our production with even more limitations.”
Jan Willem Wieringa, Desch Plantpak
Plastic shortage – “This situation never occurred before to this extent”
While floriculture is doing exceptionally well as the demand is so high, the severe shortage of plastic is currently Desch’s biggest challenge, according to Wieringa. “We make our flower pots from recycled plastic, but the sources are running out. More companies are hunting for recycled plastics, since there are less new/virgin plastics available due to production issues, the de-stocking during corona, as well as there being less imports from Asia due to the lack of sea containers. While there is an increasing demand for PCR (Post-Consumer Recycled) plastic in our industry, it is currently pretty much impossible to obtain the materials.” As Wieringa is board member of the NRK, which includes over 400 members who process plastic, he has noticed that this is a severe problem that all parties are dealing with. “We are all dealing with stock shortages and the challenge of providing enough plastic flower pots. The situation we are currently in has never occurred before to this extent, and we just do not know how long the issues will last.”
The ambition communicated early 2020 by Royal Lemkes and Van Dijk Flora for sustainable growing pots will be challenging to achieve in the coming months/years. However, all involved, such as the pot producers, growers and traders, still have the same ambition of working towards a greener world.
For more information:
Desch Plantpak
Jan Willem Wieringa
Jan.Wieringa@desch.nl
www.desch.nl/en