No new plastic: Zero Virgin from used products

The Craemer plastics plant in Oelde (Germany), which opened in 2023, houses five injection molding machines with clamping forces ranging from 3,200 to 5,500 tons. It is also equipped with several welding units and a range of extruders. Founded in 1912, the Craemer Group has been active in plastics processing since 1958. At the Oelde plant, used plastic products are converted back into high-quality raw materials. Craemer’s regranulate, branded Zero Virgin, consists of 100% recovered and refined polyethylene. Thanks to decades of Craemer expertise, it is of the highest quality.
“The quality of our compound is comparable to that of virgin material,” confirms Ralf-Peter Finke, Technical Manager Plastics and Authorized Officer. “In the field of large waste containers, it even surpasses it.”

Part of the circular economy

To help protect the environment, Craemer also manufactures its latest pallet development using its in-house regranulate. The plastics specialist guarantees that the E3-5 Zero Virgin has exactly the same properties as the version made from virgin material. Extremely robust, highly stable, impact-resistant, and reliable, both versions of the E3-5 can carry loads of up to 3,100 pounds in high-bay racking, are highly durable, and fully recyclable. The Zero Virgin model also offers a significant sustainability advantage – provided that users return the load carriers to Craemer at the end of their life cycle. That way, both versions can continue to be an integral part of the circular economy.

Production with renewable energy

Further sustainability and environmental measures at the Craemer Group: at the Oelde plant, the injection molding machines, and energy-intensive extruders will soon run on the company’s own renewable energy. By the end of the year, the company’s wind turbine will supply all the electricity. Since the end of May 2025, a rooftop photovoltaic system has already been generating energy, and another will be installed on open space below the wind turbine.

To ensure a consistent supply of Zero Virgin material even during months with little wind or sunlight, Craemer has already expanded its regranulate storage capacity by installing eight additional aluminum silos. Two of these are loading silos, designed for direct truck filling and straightforward onward transport of the bulk material to production sites – whether Craemer’s own plants or those of regranulate customers. The Craemer plant in Oelde now has a total of 20 silos with an overall storage capacity of around 4,400 U.S. tons.

Wind turbine currently under construction

In March 2025, a groundbreaking ceremony marked the start of construction of the company’s own wind turbine, just a few yards from the production hall at the Oelde site. With a hub height of 538 feet and a total height of 820 feet, the planned wind turbine will have a rated output of 6.8 megawatts and is designed to generate 16.5 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity annually – equivalent to the yearly consumption of 5,000 households. “Our injection molding plant in Oelde consumes roughly the same amount of energy as 3,000 households,” explains Ralf Westermann, Head of Facility Design and Procurement at Craemer. “We can feed surplus wind and solar power into the public grid or use it at our plastics and metal plant in Herzebrock-Clarholz, just a few miles away.”