THE MATERIAL OF THE FUTURE

Discover the world of hanit®

Each year millions of tons of plastic packaging are produced and with it plenty of valuable raw materials that need to be used as efficiently as possible. In addition to preventing waste, an environmentally friendly circular economy is also vital for conserving natural resources. At HAHN Kunststoffe, we have therefore specialised in the mechanical recycling of post-consumer mixed plastics. Using traditional methods, these can only be mechanically recycled at great cost and effort and with high energy consumption and are therefore automatically discarded into the waste stream by many sorting plants. By developing unique equipment and process technologies, we are also able to put this waste to good use. It is turned into the material hanit®, the epitome of resource efficiency.

HAHN Kunststoffe has been distributing products worldwide under the trade name hanit® since 1998. To produce this sustainable material, we process around 90,000 tons of recycled material every year. We obtain the plastic waste directly from the Dual Systems, i.e. we recycle used plastic from the Yellow Bag, which is generated from the use and consumption of plastic products by private end consumers, and produce 65,000 tons of hanit® from it every year. We use this material to produce new products that are very durable thanks to the high material quality and can be 100% recycled after their long use. In doing so, we close the material cycles and contribute to a functioning circular economy.

RECYCLING CYCLE

Waste as a valuable raw material

The HAHN Group mainly recycles mixed plastics and films made from polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE, LDPE, HDPE), which belong to the polyolefins group. Recycling this varied mix of materials and colours in a high quality and environmentally friendly way poses a special challenge, so every step in the production of our material hanit® requires the utmost precision. In addition, every product and every application area has its own individual requirements. For this reason, we have to produce the agglomerates and pellets that are subsequently processed into new hanit® products differently. The selection and composition of the waste plastic plays an absolutely crucial role because this largely determines the specifications of the new recycled plastic.

HOW USED PLASTIC IS TURNED INTO A NEW MATERIAL

Toproduce hanit®, the pre-sorted waste plastic is first freed from all foreign matter so that it can then be shredded into recyclable units and cleaned in machines. After cleaning, the material is processed into pellets through mechanical processes and then mixed into a plastic compound. High-quality finished parts are produced in our workshops with the aid of melting and intrusion.

RECYCLING CAN ALSO BE IN COLOUR

Normally our hanit® products are grey because this shade is created automatically by processing the varied packaging mix from the Yellow Bag. By adding colour batches during the recycling process we can also create other colours and offer our clients a colourful selection of products. For example, many hanit® products are also available in brown, anthracite, red, blue or green.

INNOVATIVE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

We always try to make the production of our products as energy and resource-efficient as possible because in our company conserving resources is of great importance along the entire value chain. In order to make a positive contribution to environmental and climate protection, we do not use water, for example, when cleaning the raw material and instead rely on a dry mechanical process. Moreover, production residues and offcuts are collected and fed back into the production cycle so that no resources are wasted.

ONE RANGE - COUNTLESS POSSIBILITIES

Produced from 100% recycled plastic, particularly durable and completely recyclable, hanit® stands for environmental quality over the entire life cycle and resource-efficient waste management. By reusing existing raw materials from the Yellow Bag, with hanit® a material is produced that combines functionality and sustainability in a unique way.

Our range now comprises over 2,000 different products made from hanit® recycled plastic. And it is constantly growing, because with us tradition meets innovation. We have set ourselves the goal of also helping to reconcile business and environmental protection in the future by developing high-quality recycling solutions. Currently our product range already extends from traditional and modern furniture for urban and garden design to escape-proof paddock fencing for animal husbandry and complex technical products for industrial applications.

Material Advantages