Milestones

Werner and Walter Draak founded Werner Draak KG as a business for grinding plastics.

The company grinded a whole range of used plastic objects, such as coat hangers, buttons and plastic buckets.

The majority of the plastic waste was collected by the company's own Tempo Matador truck in the greater Hamburg region and vicinity.

Once processed, it was re-dispatched. The first granulator was made by Werner Draak himself. He only bought the gears and the rotor elsewhere.

At the end of 1959 the company had to look for bigger premises because it was running out of space.

At the beginning of 1960 a disused margarine factory in Billstedt was leased. Before the company could move in, space had to be created for granulating plastics.

As was customary at the time, they carried out all the required redevelopment (partial gutting, inserting false ceilings with steel girders and laying wooden floors) themselves.

The variety of plastic objects accepted had now been extended to include the polystyrene linings of fridges, PMMA advertising signs (neon signs), as well as hula-hoops that were no longer needed.

A vast proportion of the regrinds were exported to Hong Kong and Morocco. Plastic flowers, decorative fruits and torches were already being made out of them in Hong Kong.

In Morocco on the other hand, buckles and buttons were being produced for the clothing industry.

The motto at the time was: „From Billstedt (as a regrind) to Hong Kong and Morocco and back to Billstedt (as plastic consumer goods)“.

Although the premises were originally bigger than necessary, after just a few years bags and containers filled with regrinds once again piled up to the ceilings. As a result, the Draak family was already planning to extend company premises once again in a short space of time.

The company then moved to Kirchgellersen outside Lüneburg. An old dairy became the Draak family's new premises. It offered enough space for a plastic granulating company and for the family's future plans. They also carried out all the rebuilding work required themselves at that time too. The first Führer-brand extruder was set up in Kirchgellersen. Werner Draak developed the associated granulator himself. It was the first of its kind that did not granulate with blades, but with a milling drum.

Unfortunately at the time there were no plastics blenders as yet. To pre-mix the regrinds, about 1 - 2 t were tipped out on a clean floor, mixed thoroughly with shovels and then filled into bags. The bags were carried to the extruder and emptied there by hand over a feed hopper. The finished granulate was also loaded manually onto the company's own truck. Stacked and securely tied, the goods were transported by Werner and Günter themselves to customers (e.g. in Lüdenscheid or Bremen) and non-granulated products were also picked up and brought back at the same time. Occasionally during the trips, the bags with the still warm granulate acted as a place to rest on during brief, but relaxing breaks.

The cornerstone for regranulating and agglomerating plastic waste was firmly laid when the Garstedt plant was commissioned. Initially it was a farm that made reeds into baskets which was leased and later purchased from tobacco manufacturer Reemtsma. From this point onwards, equipment such as forklift trucks and blending silos were available to pre-mix the regrinds.

The range of plastic product waste received included virtually all types of plastics available in the 1960s. Production was carried out for five days a week. Today the machines run 24/7. The majority of the regranulates produced were dispatched to the vast range of plastics processing companies at home and overseas by the company's own trucks. Nowadays, only professional hauliers are used for these services.

1985 was another key milestone in the company's history. The main production hall was constructed to accommodate a large number of the existing production departments under one roof. Today the hall has the same function for RSH POLYMERE GmbH.

Renate, Swen and Helmut Draak founded RSH POLYMERE GmbH in 1991. The company focused on trading in plastic granulates.

Swen Draak is the third generation of the Draak family to work in the plastics industry.

After establishing itself as a manufacturer in 1997 at the new Hamburg-Harburg site (the company's headquarters today), production of regranulates and grinding plastic waste started.

By integrating the business activities of KWD* as another production unit, RSH tripled its production capacity in 2003. Since that date, trading and manufacturing are the mainstays of the company.

The firm's constant aim was to enhance disposal for customers. As a result, the Bomlitz plant was built in the industrial park in Walsrode in 2006. Waste disposal, primarily for one of RSH's major customers, was also improved sustainably.

Because of RSH's constant growth, extra storage capacity had to be created in addition to the local warehouses already used in Germany.

Consequently, the Stelle plant in Ashausen went into operation. Based on the long-standing expertise in plastics processing and its consistent growth, RSH laid another important milestone by starting compounding in 2009.

 

* = Plastics plant W. Draak, Garstedt