Recycling used chains is good for the environment, according to igus
Only around 16% of the plastic waste produced in Germany is reused for new products, according to the Plastikatlas 2019. Although a long-lasting plastic energy chain is not comparable with daily throwaway products such as plastic packaging, the question of how to dispose of it still arises at the end of its service life.
Normally, the chain is disposed of together with other plastic waste. Recycling rarely occurs as the cost of separating the different materials in a product and recycling them to make usable granulate is rather high. In most factories, the usual procedure is therefore to remove energy chains from their machines, and throw them into industrial waste skips. In most cases, the plastics are then incinerated.
igus has launched an environmentally-friendly alternative in the form of the “igus green chainge recycling programme”.
The aim of the programme is to recycle the plastic from energy chains, and reuse it for new products. To this end, users can send their old out-of-use plastic energy chains to igus after cleaning them, regardless of the chain’s actual manufacturer.
The plastics are then sorted, cleaned, shredded and packed. After this, they can be reused by igus or other companies for the production of technical products. In return, the customer will receive a voucher amounting to 0.78 euros per kilogram.
Frank Blase, CEO of igus, commented: “igus takes on this reposibility and, with its igus chainge recycling programme, is aiming to make a contribution towards a reduction of plastic waste and an improvement of the recycling process. This is not something new for us. We already recycle 99% of the plastic waste occurring in production in order to reuse it as re-granulate. The chainge programme is now the next important step in the direction of sustainable business operations.”
The igus green chainge recycling programme will be rolled out worldwide in the coming weeks, starting from Germany, and will soon be implemented locally in other markets such as US, China, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea.
