Join VOKA on a Circular Roadtrip
Circular business has seen a surge within the Flemish industry in recent years. But how does it really work? VOKA offers the answer during a voyage of discovery through circular West Flanders on June 16, 2023.
During this circular road trip, they inspire their guests with about 10 business cases, listening to pitches and visiting companies that are already creating business within the circular economy. The day trip formula also makes it perfectly possible to make all kinds of contacts and exchangeknowledge about new developments around circularity during the day.
On the program
Visit to Paneltim in Lichtervelde
Paneltim is a worldwide expert in the development, production and sale of structural lightweight plastic panels for the construction and agricultural sectors. Looking to the future, Paneltim attaches special attention to ecology and is constantly looking for ways to improve the ecological footprint of its products. During the visit, we get to see the processing plant with which Paneltim is already putting residual flows from production back into the chain. We also learn more about the very near future plans for a take-back system and valorization of used and contaminated panels.
Visit to tailor-made company Westlandia - Ypres
Circular activities lend themselves well to social employment, just think of sorting, dismantling, collecting, maintaining or repairing reusable goods. Currently, many custom organizations are already working around circular economy. Westlandia from Ypres made the strategic choice at the end of 2019 to fully commit to recycling waste streams. Today, in cooperation with companies, Westlandia is working on several circular initiatives. A separate workshop was even set up for this purpose.
Lunch and introduction to a number of local sustainable projects in Reningelst
Short-chain projects also help reduce the carbon footprint of production and consumption. During our afternoon stop in Reningelst, we discover a number of local initiatives that are turning the village into a small short-chain hotspot.
Spurred by entrepreneur Bart Mostaert, no less than 34 local products have been collected on the local online short-chain platform Koket since 2020. Bart talks about the creation of the platform, about his conviction to do sustainable business and about numerous initiatives he has already undertaken in this sense.
Lunch is provided at Atelier Hortense. In her family's renovated mill, manager Greet makes traditional cakes and sweet treats. But you can also have lunch there, always with local and/or organic products.
If you want to stretch your legs a bit afterwards, you can take a look at Eden, a flower-picking garden in the center of the village where ecology and sustainability are central, or you can visit De Weij, an ancient meadow in the middle of the village. To be able to preserve this unique spot and make the meadow a nice meeting place, a non-profit organization was even founded last year.
Visit to WAAK - Kuurne
As a custom-made company, WAAK is committed to building a circular economy. Reuse is often accompanied by manual processing: refurbishment, dismantling, processing of remnants into new raw materials, etc. WAAK has all the resources for this. During the visit we see a number of circular cases at work, such as the refurbishment of used 'on board units' of Satellic and the repair of used pallets. Moreover, within its circular strategy, WAAK is also looking for innovative solutions for its own production units. For example, the recovery of injection mold remnants was started.
Visit to Wienerberger - Kortrijk
Within the construction sector, sustainable and circular construction are increasingly taking their place. This can, for example, take the form of reuse and recycling of building materials. Within its sustainability vision, Wienerberger strives for circular applications with traditional materials but also for new circular solutions. The long life and minimal maintenance of its building materials encourage this. In addition, reuse of clay roof tiles, facing bricks and clay clinkers is strongly encouraged and supported. With ClickBrick Pure, a dry-stacking facade system, a facade can be easily disassembled and 100 percent reused. For the flat roof, Wienerberger recently offered Leadax Roov, which is 100% recyclable and made from PVB film, a residual stream from the glass industry. To underwrite all these solutions, the manufacturer always works with pilot projects that focus on intensive cooperation with the market. The company's vision and initiatives around sustainability and circularity will be explained during a visit to the showroom in Kortrijk.
