Jokey launches first Serbian recycling operation with Kansai Helios

18 May 2023 --- Jokey has gained its first customer in Serbia – one of Europe’s top ten industrial manufacturers of paints and coatings – Kansai Helios. In the initial phase, Jokey will manufacture recyclate packaging material for interior wall paints under Zorka Color’s Primera and Linea brand. Jokey says the material will be extended to the rest of the range in the future.

Jokey will also manufacture its Jeto 185 in Serbia for the first time with post-consumer recyclates (PCR) for the selected product lines of Helios Srbija – the Serbian site for Kansai Helios.

Intending to advance the European circular economy, Jokey Serbia and Helios Srbija teams worked on a six-month project exploring the possibilities of an environmentally sustainable packaging solution for the Serbian market. 

As with all Jokey packaging, the company shares, the Jeto 185 with PCR content is also up to 100% recyclable due to the use of monomaterial.

“We are continuously working to improve our environmental footprint and build a carbon-neutral future,” says Jadranka Orlović, marketing director at Helios Srbija. 

“With the Jeto 185, Jokey Serbia has worked with us to develop a recyclate bucket optimized for our products and that once again helps significantly reduce our environmental footprint along the entire value chain.” The project teams from Jokey Serbia and Helios Srbija explored sustainable packaging solutions during joint workshops.

European recycling advances
Jokey shares that the PCR originates from household and commercial waste collections, amounting to 35% of the packaging material used. The buckets comprise another 65% of in-house regrind utilizing production waste, while the bucket lid is made of virgin plastic.

“We are excited that now, for the first time, a customer in Serbia is also embracing our sustainability approach with the conscious decision to use recyclate packaging, which is something we are constantly expanding and updating in Jokey Eco Concept 3.0,” states Miljan Djordjevic, CEO at Jokey Serbia. 

“This will also enable us to push the use of recyclates in the European market for packaging solutions for the non-food sector. Without doing so, a functioning circular economy will not be feasible.”

The Serbian teams were supported by Jokey Germany, where expertise and experience in using recyclate materials have been shared through customer meetings and events as part of the “Gray is the New Green” initiative that has been running since 2018. 

Harnessing PCR
To achieve optimum product properties, the experts in the Jokey R&D and Quality Management departments put the Jeto 185 with PCR content to the test aspects such as handle stability, coloration, compression pressure and impermeability. 

The appearance of the Primera and Linea product lines remains the same in the form of a bucket. The previous colored design covers the entire bucket because of the in-mold labeling process. 

A narrow gray color stripe running along the upper rim under the lid indicates the recyclate content because recyclate buckets have a gray base color due to the production process. 

Edited by Radhika Sikaria