“In everything we do, we take a critical look at man and the environment and whether it is possible to make processes more sustainable. In cooperation with Royal Brinkman and producer Oerlemans Plastics, we took the initiative to make the use of anticondensation foil more sustainable. The attachment of the AC-foil in greenhouses by use of staples, makes it impossible for the foil to be recycled. The AC-foil is now attached by means of ribbons, instead of staples, as a result of which the foil is completely recyclable.” 

"We are at Seasun in Kapelle. With a surface area of 63 hectares, Seasun, located in Kapelle, in the Province of Zeeland, is one of the largest greenhouse vegetables (under glass) companies in the country". Jozua Lagendijk, Managing Director, explains: “We grow yellow, green and red peppers on 15 hectares of land, while the rest of the area, of which 13 hectares is illuminated, is reserved for the growth of tomatoes; from individual tomatoes to small tomatoes and snack tomatoes and plum tomatoes and cherry tomatoes”.

“To save energy, we have been using AC-foil for years, during the winter months. It is a fact that this enables us to better keep warmth inside and the anticondensation layer ensures that condensation water is more evenly divided across the foil surface. This way the foil will let more light through and less energy is required. And that is a big advantage, especially when looking at the energy prices that are currently surging”, according to Jozua Lagendijk.

“We continuously work on making our company processes more sustainable. The use of AC-foil was a process that we were keen to improve: the use of staples make recycling of foil virtually impossible. Together with Royal Brinkman and Oerlemans Plastics we came up with a new attachment method by use of ribbons. Since the product now consists entirely of plastic, it is now possible to recycle the AC-foil and we can work in a more environmental-friendly manner.”

“The use of plastics is essential in the horticulture sector. At the same time there is societal pressure on the use of this product”, crop rotation specialist Martin Meuldijk explains. Martin was closely involved with the development of the new attachment method. “The advantage of anticondensation foil is that it is clean foil, which makes it recyclable material. However, attaching the strips is done by means of staples. These staples are hard to detach from the foil, as a result of which the foil cannot be recycled. The consequence is that the foil ends up in the incinerator. Not only is this far from sustainable, it also involves high costs.”

– Martin Meuldijk, crop rotation specialist at Royal Brinkman

Jozua Lagendijk indicates that various ideas were looked into. “In the end, the suggestion to connect the strips of AC-foil using plastic ribbons instead of stapling, turned out to have the best perspective. We ran the first trials with it in 2020/2021. And successfully: in November 2021 all greenhouses, with the exception of 13 hectares of illuminated cultivation, were equipped with this ‘threaded’ AC-foil.”

Henri van Hemert at Oerlemans Plastics explains that each side of the AC-foil strips contain punched holes, through which the foil strips are tied to each other with narrow ribbons of foil. “These ribbons are made of the same material as the AC-foil. As a result, the foil can be entirely recycled after use. At the end of the cultivation period, the anticondensation foil is collected without charge and we can process this into a raw material to make new AC-foil out of. The innovative attachment method thus contributes to circular economy.”

Jozua Lagendijk remarks that the ribbons can easily be attached. “This way of attachment is a lot easier, employees get the hang of it much quicker than the stapling. We can also clearly see that less hours are spent on retracting and attaching the plastic foil. For this reason, and also because we don’t need to pay for discharging used foil, this new strategy is a lot cheaper. That was not our primary goal, but it is a nice incidental benefit. Factually, the innovative attachment technique ensures double profit. There are no disadvantages that I could name at this moment. Also the removal of the foil is going smoothly.”

Lagendijk notices that making things more sustainable also shows an added value in the sales. “We always tell our customers that we use the best possible sustainable applications, but it is nice if this can be substantiated with tangible examples. All the more if you, yourself, took the initiative for this. A project like this thus guarantees being ahead on the market.”

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