Die REMONDIS-Welt der Nachhaltigkeit
REMONDIS' World of Sustainability
De REMONDIS-wereld van de duurzaamheid
The whole notion of sustainability will be a lost cause unless we take action here and now to conserve our planet's natural resources. Future generations and today's developing countries will only be able to enjoy prosperous lives if steps are taken right now to counteract the growing shortages of raw materials. For us – being one of the world's leading recycling, service and water companies – there can be only one goal: to tackle this problem and lead by example. Why not join us on this path?!
Everyone agrees that global warming must be limited to 2°C – or preferably 1.5°C – if we wish to prevent our ecosystem from being irreparably damaged. Large areas of woodland in Germany are dying as the country suffers ever longer periods of drought. Pussyfooting around is not going to stop climate change. Some major action needs to be taken. And not just switching from fossil fuels to renewables but from virgin to recycled raw materials as well. We are showing how this can be done.
The Lippe Plant in Lünen is not only a high tech site, it is also an important project for combatting global warming. The various activities carried out at the site help to cut carbon emissions by 488,000t every single year. For a forest to have the same effect, it would need to contain 37 million trees. Certainly a lovely place to take a walk in but perhaps not an ideal place for creating 1,400 jobs.
People searching for an argument in favour of plastics recycling need look no further than at our seas and oceans. Vast areas of waste are floating around in them and are so big that they can even be seen from space. This problem, however, can only be solved on Earth – with more responsible consumer behaviour and systematic plastics recycling.
Talking the talk but not walking the walk? Not at REMONDIS. It goes without saying that our all-encompassing view of sustainability also includes us being sustainable ourselves. This covers all aspects of our business – from the energy efficiency levels of our head office buildings, all the way through to ensuring that all our locations adhere to our high social standards, no matter where in the world they may be.
Every company tries to make a profit. And things are no different at REMONDIS either. For us, however, money is always a means to a good end – which is why a large part of the profits we make is invested in developing new and innovative recycling processes and technologies. Helping to preserve our planet’s valuable natural resources.
Sustainability is not a state or a condition but an ongoing process. First and foremost, sustainability is team work. Which is why we cooperate closely with experts and research institutes that also feel strongly about conserving our planet’s natural resources and preventing climate change. Such work always leads to new approaches and innovations.
Wherever we see an opportunity to drive forward the notion of sustainability and to fix it even more firmly in the minds of people, then we are there, full of passion and enthusiasm for the cause. This covers a whole range of activities – from educational projects, to acting as advisers, to supporting universities.
Everyone is talking about the scarcity of raw materials and about sustainability. But what exactly is behind it all? We decided to do some research to find out what it’s all about – so that we could put together some pages with the most important background information for you to read.
Ecodesign covers the principle of designing and manufacturing products so that they have a minimum – or ideally no – impact on the environment and climate. It takes the whole life cycle of a product into account. From the initial clever product idea, to the amount of energy and raw material resources needed, to the production and use of the product, all the way through to the recovery and reuse of the individual components when it reaches the end of its useful life.
The individual aspects of ecodesign
Ecodesigns are still far too rare in our everyday lives. The reasons for this are complex. And it is precisely this complexity that is the biggest hurdle preventing the idea of ecodesign becoming a success. One problem is the difficult balance between global environmental responsibilities and the need of individual companies to run a cost-effective business. It is, of course, easy enough to say that manufacturers should design and make products that take environmental compatibility into account. The companies must, however, be compensated for the additional time and expense caused by this. This means that the right economic conditions must be put in place. One possibility could be to financially promote the use of recycled raw materials – such as is currently being planned for the area of packaging in the latest statutory amendments. Another could be to introduce minimum recycled content. This is something that we have been calling for for a long while now and, as the name suggests, involves minimum recycled content requirements for new products. What’s more, there should be a charge for the carbon emissions caused along the whole of the supply chain – from the raw material to the end product – similar to the practices used for power stations. Companies would then benefit financially if they used carbon-saving recycled raw materials.
REMONDIS is playing an active role when it comes to ecodesign – making the most of its knowledge of resources and recycling. Just one example of this is our recycling label
Companies must be rewarded for developing and manufacturing sustainable products. Goods that can be recycled should have a better position on the market than those that can’t..
It doesn’t take long to explain how ecodesign and the circular economy are connected – indeed it is really quite simple: the better one of them works, the better the other does, too. Which explains, of course, why REMONDIS is so interested in seeing the principles of ecodesign being established in as many production processes and in as many sectors as possible. This also includes us actively helping companies to design and manufacture products so that their individual components can be recycled in the best possible way once the products reach the end of their useful life. Whether it means using raw materials that can be easily recycled or putting products together so that the different types of raw materials can be easily separated. It is essential that the individual components of a product can be separated from each other if the recycling processes are to be successful. And so once again, we have come full circle as new laws and political guidelines are needed here as well. Being a recycling business, we depend on manufacturers being genuinely interested in producing recyclable products. For this to happen, there must be appropriate incentives in place ensuring that it makes good financial sense for them to adopt such an environmentally friendly attitude.
A good example of ecodesign in practice can be found in the section Cradle to Cradle
The European Ecodesign Directive (2009/125/EC) has been in force since 2009 and is an extended and more detailed version of the 2005 Energy-Using Products Directive. To begin with, the Ecodesign Directive focused entirely on the energy efficiency and environmental compatibility of electrical and electronic appliances. Over the last few years, however, it has, for the most part, been amended to include all products rather than just electronic devices. What is still missing, however, is an extension of the Ecodesign Directive to encompass other important quality factors beyond the subject of energy. Just one key factor here is raw material efficiency. What percentage of a product’s contents is made up of recycled raw materials? How well can the products be dismantled into their individual parts and recycled once they reach the end of their useful life? These are fundamental questions that have so far been ignored. It is essential, however, that these factors are taken into account when assessing – both from an environmental and economic point of view – just how sustainable a product actually is. There is still much to be done.
Find out how the EU Ecodesign Directive has been transposed into German law: the EVPG as PDF
It’s easy enough to carp and complain. It’s far more difficult, though, to take matters into your own hands to try and move things forward. Which is why REMONDIS spent time thinking about how to develop an integral approach to the whole issue of ecodesign. Not as an isolated environmental measure but as a comprehensive raw material strategy for the industry of the future. This has led to us developing a recycling label to close the raw material efficiency gap in the Ecodesign Directive (see above). Just as the long-established energy efficiency label has been informing consumers about a product’s energy consumption levels, this recycling label aims to provide clear information about the raw material efficiency levels of a product. This means giving exact details about a product’s recycled content as well as letting people know to what extent the individual components can be recycled. This label enables consumers to see immediately just how sustainable a product is. And there’s something else that is just as important: it’s a great opportunity for companies and manufacturers to communicate to their consumers that they are practising the ecodesign principles – providing a further way, therefore, of documenting their sustainable operations.
The more recyclable a product is, the better. The recycling label documents the raw material efficiency level of a product
Would you like to find out what the raw material efficiency levels of your products are? Would you like some advice on this subject? Then contact us now
Being one of the world’s leading recycling, service and water businesses with over 30,000 employees, everything we do revolves around sustainability. We ensure that the environment is protected and that natural resources are conserved in over 30 countries across four continents.
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