Extrusion International 6-2020

18 Extrusion International 6/2020 INDUSTRY NEWS From left to right: Janek Andre, Dr. Dominik Benner, Benedikt Ruf GINDUMAC Group www.gindumac.com „ The GINDUMAC Group, with locations in Germany, Spain and India, is a pioneer of platform business in the used machinery trading market and is one of the leaders in Europe. As of Oc- tober, the Schuhe24 Group entered as majority shareholder. “Gindumac is a fast-growing and unique platform for machines whichare soldworldwide.Wehave thereforedecided toaccom- pany the growth as majority shareholder and to further expand the platform business,” says Dr. Dominik Benner, Managing Di- rector of the Schuhe24 Group inWiesbaden. The founders and managing directors, Janek Andre and Benedikt Ruf, will remain on board and continue their successful growth course. Following the entry of Schuhe24, the sharehold- ers of theGindumacGroupare thus Krauss-Maffei, Leis-Holding, the two founders and Schuhe24. “We started with the aim of digitizing the used machinery trad- ing and making it transparent, fair and simple with our online platform.We have successfully achieved this, andwewill contin- ue to grow signi fi cantly in the Corona year 2020.With Schuhe24 we have gained an ambitious partner who, with its many years of experience in e-commerce and platformbusiness, opens new growth potential for us,” says Janek Andre, CEO of the GINDU- MAC Group. For Benedikt Ruf, this is also a signal for the sustainability of the locations: “We have numerous employees in India and our main location is Barcelona. With Schuhe24, we will expand the locations, hire new employees and, above all, recruit more sales representatives in order to double the number of machines on offer”. The Munich-based machine manufacturer, KraussMaffei Tech- nologies GmbH, which acquired a stake in GINDUMAC in 2018, welcomes the entry of Schuhe24 and the resulting growth po- tential. For the future growth strategy, the partners want to initiate a clear expansion course, which also includes new countries. So far, Gindumac machines are sold in over 30 countries. Used Machinery Trade Bioplastics Meet all EU Safety Standards heavy metals and other toxic and hazardous substances. Also, an ecotoxicity test is carried out in accordance with the OECD1 rules. This test examines possible effects of industrial compost on plant growth and its toxicological harmlessness to microor- ganisms. Agricultural mulch fi lms certi fi ed as biodegradable in soil according to EU standard EN 17033 must comply with strict SVHC 2 guidelines. This ensures that the fi lms do not contain substances of very high concern. In addition to a further test for nitri fi cation inhibition, EN 17033 certi fi cation also includes a procedure to exclude negative effects on soil organisms such as earthworms. A standard for the home composting of carrier bags (prEN 17427) expected to be published soon by the Euro- pean Committee for Standardization (CEN) will summarize all test procedures once again. 1 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. The test used is OECD 208. 2 Substances of very high concern. European Bioplastics www.european-bioplastics.org „ Products made from bio-based plastics must undergo the same testing procedures as conventional plastic products to ac- cess the market of the European Union (EU). Thereby a health risk for consumers is excluded. Plastics intended to be certi fi ed as biodegradable or compostable must undergo additional tests. “Products made of bioplastics thus pass even more tests than conventional plastic products,” explains Hasso von Pogrell, Managing Director of European Bioplastics (EUBP). In theEU, plastic productswith food contact have to complywith strict regulations. These have to be met by bio-based as well as by conventional plastics. The relevant Commission Regulation, (EU) No. 10/2011, contains requirements for migration tests. A migration limit value indicates themaximumpermitted quantity of an ingredient to transit into food. The limit value ensures that food contact material does not pose a health risk to consumers. In addition to the migration test, the composition of multi-com- ponent materials is checked. Only those substances and materi- als that have been assessed and listed in an EU overview as safe may be used in their manufacture. Biodegradable plastics certi fi ed for industrial composting ac- cording to EU standard EN 13432 have to meet a fi xed limit for