Packaging products that are designed to be used once and discarded are causing an enormous amount of waste material and pollution globally. Landfills are reaching capacity and micro-plastics are polluting almost every area of our planet. Drastic changes are necessary not only in consumer behavior, but also in the practices of packaging companies and manufacturers. EcoCortec’s team of engineers has been working on designing and manufacturing environmentally responsible packaging solutions over the last 20 years. These European anticorrosion films manufacturer is a subsidiary of Cortec® Corporation, the global leader in innovative corrosion protection solutions. Cortec’s European plant is located in Croatia, the native country of Boris Miksic, Cortec’s CEO and owner. Boris Miksic is a Croatian-American who immigrated to the USA in the 1970s and founded Cortec®. From modest beginnings in Mr. Miksic’s garage in Hugo, Minnesota, Cortec® grew into the world’s leader in VpCI®/MCI® corrosion protection technology. The company manufactures and distributes anticorrosion products and solutions based on game-changing Vapor phase Corrosion Inhibitor technology. In the early 2000s, Miksic launched production in his home country. Today, this location supplies not only Europe but a large part of Asia, as well.
Miksic’s vision of moving boundaries towards sustainability in the corrosion protection industry is increasingly prevalent today as more and more companies are following Cortec’s example and turning towards environmentally responsible technologies. “My mission was and still is to always be one step ahead. I advocated the importance of green anticorrosion solutions when it was still something that very few were thinking about. Today, it has become a golden standard in our industry. After dedicating a big part of my life to the development of green inhibitors, I am happy to see things moving forward in a good direction. We at Cortec®, as pioneers in that field, carry huge responsibility since standards and expectations are very high. In our Croatian plant we gathered a team of professionals and enthusiasts who are working tirelessly on creating and launching new products, in accordance with the latest developments,” said Miksic.
EcoCortec’s films, bags, and papers are used in countless industries and applications around the globe, giving users an easy and effective way to protect metal parts and equipment from rust and corrosion. EcoCortec® VpCI®/VCI® films and bags contain Cortec’s proprietary blend of Vapor phase Corrosion Inhibitors to protect packaged metals from becoming rusty or corroded. Metals are protected both through direct contact and vapor-phase action. VpCI® anticorrosion packaging solutions have been used in projects around the world in numerous industries such as the following:
- Automotive
- Oil and gas
- Chemical processing
- Construction
- Electronics
- Water treatment
- Metalworking
EcoCortec®, a company located in the green area of Croatia’s Baranja region, will soon celebrate its 20th anniversary. The plant manufactures a wide variety of recyclable and TÜV certified industrially compostable packaging options and has incorporated circular economy principals into its manufacturing processes. Many of the solutions that EcoCortec® makes have sustainable features such as recycled, renewable, or compostable content. The plant’s team reprocesses plastic scrap and waste in-house and adds up to 30% recycled content back into its VpCI® films, well on the way to the broader European goal of 35% recycled content by 2030. In fact, the companies’ CEO has initiated a “reprocessing program” in which customers send their used VpCI® film back to the plant where it is being recycled into new material. This way, the plant has minimized its waste disposal.
“Why would our valuable customers pay large sums of money for disposal, when they can now send their used bags and films back to our Croatian plant?”. This is a winning situation for everyone and an excellent example of the circular economy in practice. We managed to reduce our carbon footprint and more importantly, we demonstrate environmental responsibility for our community on a daily basis. Dedication to a green and sustainable business model does not stop there; EcoCortec® recently became the first VCI plant in Europe to generate electricity from solar panels. In November 2023, panels were installed to collect renewable energy from the sun and convert it to electrical energy used to power EcoCortec’s facilities. With this new solar power system, the plant is able to achieve significant energy savings and contribute to reduced emission of greenhouse gases.
EcoCortec® tests products on site and utilizes its own R&D and laboratory resources to perform customer testing requests and pursue the development of a wide range of innovative new products. The in-house laboratory can perform testing compliant to military specifications (MIL-STD 3010) and ASTM standards. The lab provides technical support on all packaging product lines and has applied for ISO 17025 certification. All VpCI®/VCI films provide multi-metal corrosion protection, eliminating the need to stock many different films for different types of metal. This enables EcoCortec’s customers significant time and cost savings. The plant offers numerous size and format options that are used to protect metal objects as small as a needle or as large as the contents of containers that cross the oceans.
EcoCortec® complex has expanded its capabilities several times since 2005 when the plant was launched. Last year, they opened an additional facility for polymer processing. The new plant has VpCI® masterbatch production and reprocessing equipment for recycling waste into new materials. “People often ask me about our business approach and how our Croatian plant is so successful. We have dedicated so much of our time and resources over the last 20 years to achieve environmental milestones. For us, the satisfaction of our customers is equally important as their safety. The crucial thing is that our values are incorporated into our business model. Our products are designed for maximum efficiency with sustainability in mind so that we can offer the best corrosion protection solutions on the market that are safe and easy to use,” says the company’s CEO, Boris Miksic. “We listen to our customers and adjust our products to suit their needs. Prompt delivery from our Croatian plants enables them to receive their shipments quickly and on time. We have a responsibility as a premium manufacturer towards our customers and our community. My mission from the beginning was not only to create innovations in the corrosion protection industry but also to make the world a better place,” he adds.