Plastic energy chains and bearings by igus are found wherever movement is required during a production process. Movement in packaging plants is also driven by energy chains and bearings that have been manufactured using high-performance polymers. But, although these products are long-lasting, there comes a point when even these need to be disposed of. What happens then? igus has launched its own corresponding recycling programme and recently joined forces with the start-up cirplus with the aim of closing the material cycle for plastics.
igus manufactures most of its products by injection moulding – a process from which the company has also derived its name (igus = Industriespritzguss … German for industrial injection moulding). The company has already relatively easily been able to recycle the waste generated by its own production processes – but it had few options for doing so with plastic components that need to be replaced after use. That’s why energy chains often end up in industrial waste and are sent for incineration at the end of their lives. igus therefore decided to launch its Chainge recycling initiative in 2019 to prevent this happening. Customers have been using igus’ recycling programme to send end-of-life energy chains – by any manufacturer – to Cologne since then. That’s were igus transforms them into regranulate. In return for the old chains, customers receive vouchers. “What started as a small idea has rapidly gained momentum. We’ve already collected and recycled more than 60 tonnes of high-performance plastics since the launch of Chainge. Half of that in 2022 alone,” says Michael Blass, CEO at igus e-chain systems. Chainge was expanded in October 2022. “The feedback was so positive that we decided to think even bigger about recycling. That’s why, besides energy chains, we started to add other engineering-plastic components to the recycling programme to accelerate the transition to a circular flow economy.”