“The purchasing decisions of our customers are increasingly being shaped by ecological considerations. That is why we have put a lot of effort into product development in order to be able to produce more resource-efficiently – without sacrificing product quality.” Jörg Ottersbach, head of the igus e-chains Business Unit has clear ideas and, heading this direction, the German company presented the E2.1.CG cradle-chain – a complete range of e-chains made from the new igumid CG material.
“Numerous tests in our own test laboratory show that the new e-chain has almost the same technical properties and load limits as an energy chain made from the standard igumid G material, and it’s available at the same price.” The new range of e-chains is available from stock in five series and 28 chain types.
The cradle-chain uses, among other things, recycled material from the “Chainge” recycling program. As part of this program, igus has been collecting used energy chains from customers since 2019, so they do not end up in industrial waste. This service is offered for both igus e-chains and chains from other manufacturers. So far, more than 32 tons of material have been collected across 13 countries. For 2022, igus has set its goal to increase this total to 500 tons.
Scrap material is sorted by type, cleaned and processed to new quality. This is possible with the help of a chemical analysis and formulation tuning- a process in which material is optimized for the desired properties and enables consistent product quality. The post-consumer material igumid CG is then used to make the recycled cradle-chain – without any loss of quality in terms of wear behavior, stability or bending fatigue.
With the new e-chain product range made of recycled material, igus is making a further contribution to conserving resources and advancing the circular economy. According to the Environment Product Declaration, this sustainable raw material cycle also reduces CO2 emissions by 28 percent.
