"234 million euros more turnover in one year, with almost the same sales prices until the end of the year, and everything produced and procured in-house - we've never had that before," says Igus Managing Director Frank Blase. Total turnover in 2021 amounted to 961 million euros. 32% more turnover than in 2020 also means 26% more than in the record year 2019.

The war in Ukraine and the shortages in many markets are prompting Igus to invest even more in material availability in the short term. At the same time, investments in higher production capacities are continuing: since 2020, production in Cologne has been increased or modernized by 300 injection moulding machines. A further 200 are on order. The new production building in Cologne with an additional 20,000 m² of space is expected to be completed on May 1, 2023. New storage facilities for 12,000 pallets were already built in 2021. Plans are currently underway to further expand the 'igus Campus Cologne', for which the company has acquired adjacent land with a total area of 20,000 m². The expansion of the 35 foreign subsidiaries amounted to a total of 60,000 m² of floor space.

Climate-neutral production by 2025

On the way to climate-neutral production by 2025 - 95% achieved to date according to Scope 1 and 2 (Greenhouse Gas Protocol) - various projects were tackled at Igus last year: For example, 100 older injection molding machines were replaced with 40% more energy-efficient models. In addition, igus planted 15,687 trees in 23 countries. Plastic waste in production that cannot be directly recycled was reduced by 21%. The 'chainge' energy chain recycling program has grown in recent years and has been rolled out internationally. And this spring, the first energy chain product made from 100% recycled materials from the 'chainge' program will be launched on the market: the 'cradle-chain E2.1.CG' is a complete energy chain program made from the new material igumid CG. Numerous tests in the company's own test laboratory show that the new energy chain has almost the same technical properties and load limits as the energy chain made from the standard material igumid G. It is also available at the same price as the energy chains made from the standard material. The new range is available from stock in five series and 28 chain types.

The cradle-chain uses recycled material from the 'chainge' recycling program, among other things. As part of this program, Igus has been collecting used energy and drag chains from customers since 2019 so that they do not end up in industrial waste. This applies to both in-house energy chains and chains from other manufacturers. Over 32 tons of material from 13 countries have already been collected so far. Igus has set itself the target of increasing this amount to 500 tons by 2022. The old material is sorted by type, cleaned, regranulated and processed to virgin material quality. This is made possible with the help of chemical analysis and formulation tuning - a process in which the material is optimized for the desired properties, thus enabling consistent product quality.