REGUPOL among winners of state environmental economics prize

Sustainability is one of the greatest issues of our time. But REGUPOL BSW GmbH has already been working on sustainable and environmentally friendly solutions ever since its foundation almost seventy years ago. This is fully in the spirit of the motto “Good for the economy – better for the environment” under which NRW.BANK and the Ministry for Environment, Agriculture, Conservation and Consumer Protection of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia awarded the prize. REGUPOL was one of three winners. “Umweltwirtschaftspreis.NRW” comes with 60,000 euros of prize money. Speaking on behalf of the jury, Uwe D’Agnone explained why REGUPOL received the award: “This company has long been one of the world’s leading providers of recycled sports floors, making it just as tireless as the athletes who train on its products. Congratulations on third place in the Umweltwirtschaftspreis.NRW.”

The competition honours sustainable and innovative companies based in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, whose products or services combine environmental protection and resource efficiency with economic success. A total of 80 businesses applied. With its internal “Let’s change” sustainability strategy, REGUPOL made it to the final round of ten applicants. These were selected by an independent jury made up of figures from business, science and politics.

“We are incredibly proud of having achieved third place in the environment prize. This award is confirmation and support for our actions, which makes it very important to us. Our business model is based on giving recycling products at least a second life that often lasts longer than their first. This creates what we see as an almost perfect circular economy. It is also fun and much nicer than just throwing things away. Together with our customers, we work every day to ensure that we can continue developing solutions and applications in the future. We want to increase the proportion of recycled materials in our products and grow off the back of this. The prize money will be dedicated to social activities in the town of Bad Berleburg where we are based,” explains REGUPOL Managing Director Rainer Pöppel.

REGUPOL is one of the world’s leading providers of sports floors, impact protection flooring, anti-slip mats for load securing, impact sound insulation and vibration insulation, as well as structural protection mats and membranes. Virtually all REGUPOL products are made using recycled polymer raw materials, with most featuring a recycling rate of between 75 and 95 percent. REGUPOL currently processes over 90,000 tons of recycled elastomers every year, making a major contribution to the sustainable use of valuable resources.

The environmental sector is a growing part of the economy in North Rhine-Westphalia, and already makes up around six percent of the state’s GDP. Last year, the town of Bad Berleburg was awarded the German Sustainability Prize for Small Towns and Communities by Ursula Heinen-Esser, the state’s Minister for the Environment, Agriculture, Conservation and Consumer Protection. The award for REGUPOL’s environmentally friendly production is more evidence that this region takes its responsibility seriously.

The award ceremony took place online due to the coronavirus pandemic. REGUPOL Managing Director Rainer Pöppel joined the event live.