We aim to serve customers who (want to) be sustainable with smart products, such as an inflatable chimney valve to prevent heat loss during a factory shutdown. Or closing the chute opening to counteract heat/energy loss at night, among other things.

We also invent, develop and make products that are a sustainable alternative to existing solutions, think of the lifting cushions we make that can replace a heavy environmentally damaging crane in many situations.

We use little material

We process flexible, lightweight materials that gain shape, dimensional stability and strength by pre-stretching or filling them with pressurised air; so not by adding mass! Our products and applications have an extremely efficient use of materials in relation to the function they perform.

A crane weighs 50,000 kg or more; a set of lifting cushions, capable of lifting the same weight, weighs no more than 750 kg.

An ETFE air cushion roof weighs 2 kg per m2 while a similar glass roof weighs 50 kg per metre.

Information on the durability of ETFE film, for example:

Nowoflon BREEAM

ETFE film

Our materials can be reused and recycled

The films and coated fabric we process can be reused and/or recycled. In some cases, the material can even be returned to the same high-quality products, as in the case of ETFE film.

Waste pieces of (PVC) coated fabrics are still mostly reused by making less worthy products from them, such as bags, tarpaulins, etc. However, even for this type of material, plenty of research is being done to ensure that it can be reduced to high-quality material, for example by manufacturer Serge Ferrari with the Polyloop project.

Few tonne-kilometres with our products

Our products are light and very compact when folded and disassembled. It therefore takes very little energy (e.g. expressed in tonnes x kilometres travelled with products) to load, move, transport, store, unload and assemble our products.

Three valves for a 3-metre diameter chimney packed in wooden transport box on Europallet: l x w x h = 80 x 120 x 160 cm. Weight: 75 kg.

Our products support sustainable businesses

We serve a very broad customer base with our products, but our focus is on companies that want to be sustainable or are involved in renewable energy.

Examples of developments we are involved in and applications in and for the sustainable industry include:

• Inflatable lifting system for rotor blade mounting and maintenance;
• Inflatable pads as an aid during wind turbine assembly;
• Lightweight bags made of fluoropolymer film for growing algae;
• Liners made of chemically inert polyfluor films for underground energy storage;
• Inflatable work-through installation for marine rotor blade maintenance and repair;
• Inflatable heat-resistant chimney valves to prevent heat and energy loss during plant shutdowns.

The links below provide more information on pads for wind turbine mounting and on a rotor blade lifting system:

Inflatable pad

Rotorblade lifting set

Our products replace alternatives that are much more environmentally damaging

Among other things, Buitink Technology's products are lightweight (low material use), easily reusable and very compactly transportable. This often makes our products a very sustainable alternative to conventional solutions.

Examples include:

• An ETFE inflatable roof that weighs only 2 kg/m2, while a comparable glass roof weighs 50 kg/m2 or more;
• A lightweight set of lifting cushions that replaces a crane;
• Lightweight grow bags for algae that replace lead-heavy glass grow bags;
• Inflatable valves weighing 10-50 kg as an alternative to hydraulic valves weighing 1,000 kg or more (and risk of oil leakage and contamination).