Even if a long-lasting plastic energy chain is not comparable to daily disposable products such as plastic packaging, the question of disposal also arises here at the end of its service life. Normally, the chain is disposed of together with other plastic waste. Recycling rarely takes place, as the effort involved in separating it by type and processing it into reusable granulate is too high. It is therefore common practice in most factories to remove old energy chains and drag chains from their machines and throw them into industrial waste containers. The plastics are then usually incinerated.

Igus offers an environmentally friendly alternative with the 'igus green chainge recycling program'. The aim of the program is to recycle and reuse the plastic from the energy and drag chains and thus feed it back into the material cycle. To this end, users can send their discarded, cleaned plastic chains to Igus - completely independently of the manufacturer of the chain. There are currently no exclusion criteria for the acceptance of discarded plastic chains: "We are able to recycle a wide range of chains. We currently accept everything that is sent to us. We will learn where the limits may lie," explains Igus Managing Director Frank Blase. The plastics are sorted by material type, cleaned, shredded and packaged. They can then be reused by Igus or other companies for the production of high-quality technical products. In return, the customer receives an Igus voucher worth 0.78 euros per kilogram.

The topic of recycling is nothing new at Igus: 99% of the plastic waste generated in production is already recycled as re-granulate. "The waste that arises during ongoing production is regranulated directly and returned to the production process. This ensures almost complete recycling," explains Frank Blase. "This is more difficult with energy chains and drag chains that have already been in use for many years, because the materials first have to be carefully cleaned. After cleaning, our laboratory ensures that the materials are separated by type by precisely analyzing them. Once cleaned and separated by type, the materials can then be processed into regranulate." The 'chainge' program is therefore the next step towards sustainable management.

Igus is rolling out the recycling programme worldwide; it has currently been launched in Germany and will then be localized in other markets such as China, the USA, Japan, Taiwan and Korea.