Circular Economy Week: from awareness to action
Marc Martens
From March 19–27, the Netherlands hosts Circular Economy Week — a moment where organizations highlight how they are working towards a future without waste. At CurTec, circularity is not limited to one week. It is an integral part of how we design, use and recover packaging.
What circularity means in practice
Circularity is about keeping materials and products in use for as long as possible, while preserving their value. This requires a conscious approach to how products are used, maintained and recovered.
Where possible, products should be reused or repurposed. If that is no longer feasible, responsible recycling ensures that materials can be reintroduced into new applications. Disposal is always the last resort.
For packaging, this means designing solutions that support long lifecycles, enable reuse, and allow for high-quality recycling at end of life.
Taking action: from clean-up to structural improvements
Circular Economy Week is also about action. On Dutch National Clean-Up Day, CurTec employees contributed by cleaning up the surroundings of our facilities — a small but visible step in reducing litter and raising awareness.
At the same time, we continue to develop and implement structural initiatives that support circularity across our operations and supply chain:
- Returning materials: Collaborating with suppliers to return and reuse pallets, tubes and stabilization materials
- Internal reuse: Giving materials a second life within our own operations, such as using big bags for storing plastic regrind
- Closed-loop production regrind: Reusing rejected products as high-quality regrind to produce UN-certified packaging without compromising performance
- Pilot project “Closed Controlled Loop”: Assessing the feasibility of collecting and recycling used CurTec packaging into new CurTec products
- Improved waste sorting: Optimizing on-site waste streams in collaboration with Renewi to maximize recycling rates
Designing for circularity
As a manufacturer of high performance packaging for critical materials, CurTec plays a specific role in the circular economy. Our packaging must not only be reusable and recyclable, but also protect product quality throughout its lifecycle.
Learn more about ECO LITE drums
This means balancing durability, cleanliness, and regulatory compliance with circular design principles. By extending product lifespan and enabling reuse, we help customers reduce waste and improve supply chain efficiency.
An ongoing journey
Circularity is not a single initiative or a one-week campaign. It is a continuous process of improvement, collaboration and innovation.
Circular Economy Week provides an opportunity to reflect on progress and accelerate new ideas — but the real impact is created in the everyday decisions we make.
