The competence centre for plastics recycling of the environmental services provider Interseroh in Maribor, Slovenia, received official international accreditation in March 2020. This makes it the only recognised research facility in the EU that specialises in the development and analysis of recycled plastics.
The research organisation is thus Europe-wide standards in the implementation of uniform quality standards.
„This is an important step towards ensuring a reliable supply of high-quality, stable recycled raw materials for industry. The international accreditation based on the ISO/IEC 17025:2017 laboratory standard confirms the high level of technical expertise of our centre of excellence and creates transparency and trust in the market,“ says Dr Manica Ulcnik-Krump, Head of the Recycled-Resource Business Unit at Interseroh Dienstleistungs GmbH.
The standard defines the general Requirements for the competence, impartiality and operation of laboratories and the standard. By fulfilling the standard, they can prove that they achieve valid results and ensure their international acceptance. The Research centre in Maribor has fulfilled all the requirements of the Slovenian accreditation body Slovenska akreditacija (SA).
Since 2016, Interseroh has been operating the Competence centre for plastics recycling in Maribor, which has developed into a renowned research and innovation centre. For the development of the Upcycling process Recycled-Resource the environmental services provider has already 2017 the Slovenian Environmental Award.
„We are working on producing ever better, market-orientated plastic recyclates from used packaging, which represent a sustainable alternative to primary material. Assured global standards for processes, analytics and quality controls are essential for this.“
Dr Manica Ulcnik-Krump
Among other things, the accreditation confirmed that Interseroh fulfils the fulfils international requirements for mechanical and physical analyses of plastics. The standardised test procedures serve to improve the long-term stability of the mechanical and thermal properties of the material - and thus its suitability for demanding applications.
Examples are a High low-temperature load capacity and tensile stability of crates and pallets, used in the supply chain or the surface scratch resistance of furniture.
„This offers real added value for our customers and all interested companies,“ says Ulcnik-Krump. „The accreditation is a seal of quality for our work - and at the same time the ,’Licence to test' from the highest authority. This enables us to offer independent and standardised quality testing of recyclates as a service on the market.“
[infotext icon]Alongside Alba, Interseroh is one of the brands under the umbrella of the Alba Group, which is active in Germany, Europe and Asia. In 2018, its business units generated a turnover of 2.1 billion euros and employed a total of over 8,000 people. This makes the Alba Group one of the world's leading recycling and environmental service providers and raw materials suppliers. In 2018 alone, recycling activities saved 4.4 million tonnes of greenhouse gases compared to primary production and 31.9 million tonnes of primary raw materials[/infotext].
