A Faithful Bridge Between Plastic Manufacturers and Customers
Cotrimex, a company that represents some of the largest polymer manufacturers and plastic product companies in the world, serves as a bridge between international suppliers and local customers. Having had close contacts with the industry for over six decades, the staff at Cotrimex also see themselves as a factor that can contribute to the local plastic industry becoming less polluting
Most of us are used to thinking of plastic as an environmental pollutant. At the same time, it also offers a lot of advantages, and there are those who want to bring these advantages to the fore and help change our perspective on plastic. One of these is Cotrimex, which is the representative of many manufacturers, including some of the largest polymer producers in the world - from Japan and Korea, the USA and Europe – and also of companies that produce plastic products. Having had close contacts with the industry for over six decades, the staff at Cotrimex also sees themselves as a factor that can contribute to the local plastic industry becoming less polluting.
Cotrimex was founded 60 years ago by Yossi Ben-Artzi (88). Ben-Artzi, who was born in Egypt, immigrated to Israel through France at the age of 13 as part of Aliyat HaNoar, together with his late brother Asher, who contributed a great deal to the success of the company. He was educated at Mikveh Israel Agricultural School, and during his military service completed his matriculation and studied bookkeeping in the accounting studies and economics track. In 1957, he began working as an account manager at the local government finance bank. As part of his work, among other things, he handled implementation of the reparations agreement with Germany, and in the process fell in love with the field of international trade. Six years later, Ben-Artzi decided to leave the bank and set up a business in the field of commerce. He rented a small office on Carlebach Street in Tel Aviv, and began "thinking about who to work with.” He came to the conclusion that the field of trade with the United States and Europe was quite saturated, and decided to focus on trade with Japan, which at the time was a fairly undeveloped field, on the one hand, but on the other hand was ripe after the recovery from World War II.
Cooperation with the local tire industry
It all started with the import of synthetic rubber and, like many things in Ben-Artzi's career, it came about by chance. "I knew a Jewish expert in this field from Paris, who owned a factory in France, and we became friends,” he recalls. "He advised me to concentrate on importing synthetic rubber, and so I did. I was able to contact a world-class manufacturer who produced synthetic rubber with American know-how, which agreed to grant the company right to represent it in Israel." Following this, Ben-Artzi managed to penetrate the local tire industry - which at the time consisted of "Alliance Tires" and "Shimshon Tires" - as well as companies producing rubber products for various purposes.
The significant jump in business came after the Six Day War. Cotrimex, which had meanwhile expanded into the field of plastics, benefited from the prosperity and established additional ties with polymer manufacturers. At the end of the 1990s, members of the second generation also joined the business: Asaf, Ben-Artzi's nephew, who grew up in the USA; and his sons Roy and Yoav, both graduates of law school. Another son lives abroad, where he is involved in real estate. "And there is another son,” notes Ben-Artzi: the fourth "son" is Cotrimex's vice president in Japan, Isao Shimamura, whom Ben-Artzi considers part of the family.
In the forefront of innovation in the field
The plastics industry in Israel is roughly five billion dollars. The main manufacturers are ‘blue and white’ collective enterprises, and multinational plants. There are currently about 500 manufacturers in the local market, some of them dedicated, such as factories that produce plastics for the pharmaceutical, automotive, irrigation, and other industries. About half of the plastic production in Israel is intended for export (about 35% to the USA and about 30% to Europe), making up 6-8% of total Israeli exports. The rest is sold locally and is used by a variety of industries, such as the food packaging industry, which is the main consumer of plastic in Israel and worldwide.
As a company that provides a kind of bridge between plastic manufacturers and customers, Cotrimex always tries to be positioned in the forefront when it comes to innovation in the field of plastics. "Our company specializes in finding relevant products for our customers,” explains Yoav Ben-Artzi, the company's marketing director. "The properties are endless, and each product needs unique features. Our job is to help customers find the right materials, and to build a stable relationship between them and the manufacturers in order to supply those materials in a consistent and regular manner and at prices that allow both parties to exist and prosper together over time. Happily, thanks to Dad’s reputation and his great efforts, we have access today to a large number of top quality suppliers. Together with them and the customers, we can develop the products of the future."
What makes you special?
"Our uniqueness is the ability to be loyal to both sides. When you are both a buyer and a seller as a dealer or distributor, you are always in a kind of conflict of interest with the parties. With us, the transaction is between the customer and the supplier, and the amount that we receive is fixed and known in advance. This is a very volatile industry. There are periods of excess materials, and there are periods of shortages. When we maintain the relationship between the customer and the supplier, we will be able to continue supplying the products even in periods of surplus, and the customer will be able to receive products even in periods of shortage."
Combining plastic with natural materials
As "ambassadors" of the plastics industry, Yoav Ben-Artzi sees fit to defend the industry, which, according to him, has a "serious image problem.” "The issue is not the plastic, but the way in which it is used. Using plastic for a one-time use is really a problem, but its beauty is that it can be used multiple times. The problem lies in our excessive consumer culture. In fact, plastic has replaced materials such as glass and wood, which are ostensibly natural materials. But in order to produce glass you need tremendous heat, and for the production of wood, you cut down trees which is harmful to the environment. The process of recycling these materials is also significantly more damaging than for plastic."
And why does plastic pollute less?
"The plastics industry itself does not pollute more than other industries, even less, because it is very efficient. The point is that the decomposition of plastic is much slower. Because of the excessive use of plastic, the amount of plastic garbage is much greater. But the same properties that make plastic a non-degradable material allow it to be recycled very easily. Even though there is increasing use of recycled plastic material, it is still not enough to create a full recycling circle."
So what is the solution?
"Today there is an effort to combine plastic with natural materials, so that the product will decompose faster. For example, plastic combined with rice husks, or coconut shells. This is win-win: the plastic gives the coconut shells the necessary hardness, and the natural materials make it possible to reduce the amount of plastic in each product.
"All companies today are trying to achieve zero emissions and reduce plastic pollution, and they are all dealing with it intensively. The standard-bearers are the major food producers. The reason is that the greatest use of plastic is in the food sector. The ongoing attempt is to produce as many recycled products as possible and reduce the amount of waste, but these are long-term processes and you have to give them time."
In collaboration with Cotrimex
