The new division will also provide technical assessments, supply source validation and technical advice in recycled resins and feedstock.
Part of this new strategy sees the appointment of Markku Tikkanen as director of business development – flexible packaging. He joins Vanden with nearly 15 years of packaging value chain experience working with prime/virgin-based packaging solutions, He also worked for a global polymer supplier overseeing 75,000 tonnes a year of PE sales in the flexible packaging market.
Vanden feedstock will only be derived from recycled feedstocks, enhancing the conversion from linear to the circular economy and reducing the tonnage of valuable plastics ending up into landfills.
Damien van Leuven, chief executive of Vanden Global, said: “Markku’s the first of several global directors of business development recruitments we’re making in the coming 12 months that will be dedicated to helping converters and plastics manufacturers across the world, access a reliable supply of recycled plastics to meet their legislative and CSR targets.
“We’re confident Markku will deliver a great deal of value to the flexible packaging industry, helping producers to navigate the relatively unchartered waters the sector is entering with recycled content requirements.”
“We have multiple target segments where we can increase the usage of recycled resins in flexible packaging, including industrial, consumer and agriculture to name a few and are continuously exploring new applications,” added Tikkanen. “We want to give the valuable recycled feedstock multiple lives as recycled plastics in a wide scale of applications by utilising our long expertise in recycled feedstock management.”
