February 7th to the 12th was the Dutch week of the circular economy. With a rising demand for resources worldwide, there is also a demand, if not a necessity, to handle these resources more responsibly. With this in mind, the Dutch government has set the goal to make the Dutch economy completely circular by 2050.
At Schmitz Foam Products circular entrepreneurship is part of our DNA and high on the agenda. We work according to the "3 R’s of Sustainability":
Reduce: Most ProPlay products are made of quality foams that no longer have a meaningful purpose in their particular industries. If Schmitz Foam Products did not offer these products a second chance, they would probably end up being incinerated or being transported to waste disposal.
Re-use: Schmitz Foam Products constantly gives foam a new chance, our own ProPlay shock pads included. Thanks to the use of quality foam, the performance degradation is very limited. That is why we are comfortable claiming that even once ProPlay is no longer delivering what is needed for sports, it can still have a useful purpose in other applications.
Recycle: The Schmitz Foam Products’ recycling philosophy aims to reuse whatever possible before recycling is considered as an alternative. The company will go to great lengths to find a second use for ProPlay sheets that have been reclaimed if they can still serve a purpose elsewhere. This philosophy aims to find a new long-term application for a used shock pad(reuse). Only once it is established that this is not the case, the ProPlay will be recycled. Clean pads can then be reintroduced in our production process.