Sustainable manufacturing with igus®: greener plastics
Unfortunately, when igus® was born, the environmental impact of manufacturing plastics was not a focal point. The primary issues that we sought to solve were driven by methods to reduce costs, improve technology and help customers with their difficult applications. However, in addition to this, we have always considered sustainable manufacturing and maintained a strong process of recycling by ensuring 99% of plastics waste is granulated down and reused as key materials in production.
As well as recycling, our unique selling point of igus® products being lubrication-free further enhances our belief and promise in protecting the environment: the less oil you use, the less oil ends up as environmental waste. Using long-lasting polymers ensures fewer products are needed and, in turn, less waste is produced from used materials.
As a producer of special plastics, igus® continues to re-evaluate and research new materials to ensure the best possible materials are being employed to best serve various industries and best protect our planet.
Our sustainable manufacturing methods
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We recycle your energy chains! By giving us your old energy chains, regardless of the manufacturer, we will give you an igus® voucher for the value of the material. While granulating used plastics into small usable grains is an expensive process, we recognise the importance of reducing waste and taking responsibility for our plastic manufacturing. Upon completion of this form, you can send them to us and receive your voucher.
Catalytic Hydrothermal Reactor
With 8 million tonnes of plastics being dumped into our oceans each year, costing approximately 80 billion dollars, technology and recycling seems to be a possible solution as a great sustainable manufacturing solution.
Catalytic Hydrothermal Reactor (Cat-HTR™) technology can be used to convert unwanted or used plastics into mineral oil in just 20 minutes. Mura Technology Limited has begun work on opening a chemical recycling plant in the UK which will convert the unsorted waste into oil. By investing almost 5m euros at the beginning of the process, igus® has shown its commitment to an important company that aims to establish more than 2,000,000 tonnes of the catalytic hydrothermal processing capacity by 2030. With their aim of becoming #PlasticNeutral, they hope to achieve an infinite life of plastics so that the number of times a plastic can be recycled has no limit.
Planting for the future
Alongside two schools in Germany, we have planted a variety of 2,500 trees to grow in a new woodland area of just under 1 hectare. Carbon dioxide is naturally absorbed by these amazing, green organisms.
Together with these processes, we encourage our customers to employ environmental actions like ours and to recycle all of their recyclable packaging and appropriately dispose of their non-recyclable packaging.
Our accomplishments
The essence of our business is movement, which can only be made easier with lighter and more long-lasting components: igus® bearings not only do not require any lubrication oils but also could provide a weight saving of 4kg if used to replace steel bushings in aeroplanes – weight is important when you’re trying to fly!
Not only made from non-degrading plastics, our iglidur® N54 material mainly consists of renewable raw materials and can be used universally.
As an ISO 14001 certified company, we are proud to be recognised as a basis for environmental management systems. With this, we aim to grow towards a carbon-neutral factory in the coming years. To achieve this, we strive to adhere to environmental regulations; enhance environmental awareness among our staff; carefully adopt, use, and reuse resources where possible; implement a zero-error philosophy around production waste.
Read more about sustainable manufacturing processes with igus® here.
