Colourful recycling containers with memorable slogans
You cannot fail to notice the bright yellow metal bin, emblazoned with a catchy slogan, and that is exactly the thinking behind it. It has been designed to be conspicuous, so that dog owners know immediately where to put the bags containing their four-legged friends’ waste. The man behind the design is Kai-Uwe Jobst, managing director at JO-BA GmbH, who came up with the idea during one of his many walks along Bremen’s Werdersee Lake with his dog, Luke. “It really annoys me when I see carelessly discarded plastic bags in the forest or on the grass,” he says.
Jobst, a qualified lawyer, is full of ideas about recycling, sustainability and the sensible use of resources. When he joined his father’s company in 2004, the business had already switched its focus towards recycling. But it was only once he joined that the business really took off. And that has a lot to do with his ideas.
From slurry tankers to recycling containers – and from Bassum to Bremen
The company was originally founded by Horst-Dieter Jobst in 1972 as Stall- und Regentechnik GmbH. The new company name is composed of the first two letters of the family name and of Bassum, the town near Bremen where the company used to be based. During the early years, the company specialised in the manufacture of slurry tankers and slurry silos. However, when the company made its first clothing collection container in 1984, it marked the turning point that would lead to the renaming of the company to JO-BA Maschinen- und Anlagenbau GmbH. In 1998, JO-BA GmbH moved its headquarters to Bremen.
When Kai-Uwe Jobst became managing director in 2009, he moved the entire container production to Germany and made individuality the company’s USP – changes that define the company as it is today. “Anyone can do sheet metal,” says the 45-year-old. “The art is in making your containers stand out from the rest.”
Customised containers – from their shape to their livery
And this art begins with the shape. Not only can customers choose from a variety of sizes, there is also a range of inlet, chute and handle shapes, and even the roof is available in several versions. Thanks to a modular system, they can all be combined to meet individual requirements. “Our customers can choose from round roofs, angled roofs or a tailor-made solution,” Jobst says. For example, JO-BA has developed mushroom-shaped collection containers for children’s shoes that are used in shoe shops.
JO-BA is Germany’s only manufacturer of clothing collection containers
© WFB/Jörg Sarbach