Sustainable Products

    How sustainable and circular are RENOLIT products?

    Today, RENOLIT already offers a range of polymer products that have a high recyclate content, are 100 percent recyclable or are partly made from renewable raw materials. To be able to evaluate the overall sustainability of a plastic product, its functions and properties play an important role in addition to the raw materials.

    Our plastic films and other plastic products are characterized by their surface, design and function:

    • They renew and refine other products,
    • Protect them and extend their service life and/or
    • Were developed to repair other products.
    HOME & BUILDING

    Sustainable applications for home and building

    High-quality plastic films, such as RENOLIT REFACE, protect building facades from weathering and wear and increase their service life. Material residues from production are recycled directly. Some products are designed specifically for repairs.

    Our RENOLIT ALKORSMART roofing membrane is thinner than any other synthetic membrane while being significantly more durable. Its innovative sunscreen technology provides a cooling effect, helping save energy.

    RENOLIT COMPACT is a new, 100 percent recyclable range of panels for decorating thermally insulated or non-insulated ventilated curtain facades. Up to 30 percent recycled PVC is used in newly manufactured RENOLIT COMPACT products. Since they are delivered tailor-made, there is hardly any material residue at the customer’s site.

    When laminating films are mechanically damaged, RENOLIT Exterior Solutions film service provides an on-site repair solution, extending the life of vinyl windows or doors. In cooperation with the Rewindo recycling initiative, we are committed to ensuring that more PVC profiles are collected, recycled and reused at the end of their service life.

    In the interior design segment, our fully recyclable lightweight RENOLIT WOOD-STOCK product is ideal for furniture construction. Our self-adhesive products such as RENOLIT ALKORFOL STEEL ship or our self-adhesive 3D Thermolaminates for furniture, walls and floors in houses or on ships help increase the service life of the things around us and preserve their value. In this way, they help conserve resources, save energy and improve our quality of life.

    Our plant in Sant Celoni, Spain, which produces roofing, tunnel and swimming pool membranes, is particularly successful in terms of sustainability. Geomembranes for civil engineering, e.g. for large basins and reservoirs, are also produced here from the RENOLIT ALKORPLAN range. Recycled PVC recyclables from RENOLIT production as well as from clean material residues of our customers are also processed. In 2020, the recycled content was around 19.3 percent of Sant Celoni's total material input, and it is set to increase further.

    RENOLIT is constantly working on product solutions for people and the environment. For example, we produce membranes whose special properties contribute to more energy-efficient air conditioning in buildings. In production, we take care to ensure we reduce CO₂ emissions and use more recycled materials.  

    WIND ENERGY

    Innovative repair concepts for wind turbines

    The new Wind Energy market unit offers innovative products and services to make the generation of climate-neutral energy from wind turbines more efficient. With the RENOLIT CP corrosion protection film, the steel and metal coatings of wind turbines can be safely protected against corrosion in the long term. The new coating process, which we offer in cooperation with WP-Energy, enables fast and flexible repairs, is environmentally friendly and increases the service life of the equipment.

    HEALTHCARE

    Together Towards Health

    Inspired by this mission, the Healthcare market unit works with customers, partners and start-ups to develop innovative product solutions and processes for the global healthcare markets. The Market Unit Healthcare is thus making a significant contribution to human health. For example, with films for bioreactors for the production of COVID-19 vaccines or polymer films for the fields of dialysis, blood plasma, infusions, parenteral nutrition and many others.

    Healthcare is also focused on sustainability. We are setting the course for future sustainable concepts in cooperation with Photanol B.V., a start-up that has developed a process to develop non-fossil raw materials for polymer production from sunlight, CO2 and cyanobacteria. In addition, the Market Unit Healthcare is developing a new manufacturing process that, among other things, minimizes the use of resources for polymeric films and enables the production of more easily recyclable mono-materials.

    At its three global innovation centers and five production sites, Healthcare is working hard to minimize its carbon footprint, increase material efficiency and develop holistic concepts for recycling used customer products. To help solve this challenge in the future, Healthcare, for example, is collaborating with the U.K. National Health Service (NHS) on a pilot project aimed at promoting the circular economy in hospitals, among other projects.

    AUTOMOTIVE

    Recycable automotive applications with natural fibres

    In the automotive sector, we offer, among other things, composite panels for the production of interior trim made of our RENOLIT WOOD-STOCK material, which contains at least 50 percent renewable natural fibres. Natural fibres are also embedded in the lightweight construction material RENOLIT NATGOR. Almost all products of the Market Unit Composites are 100 percent recyclable. Good to know: For more than three decades, we have been buying back trim residues of our products from our customers' production in order to recycle them in our production.

     

    VISUAL COMMUNICATION

    Visual communication with protective function

    RENOLIT films are available for a wide range of applications in visual communication: from graphic films and high-quality advertising prints to protective and luminous films. Protective films are not only used to preserve valuable graphics. At the same time, they protect the surfaces of floors and walls as well as the paintwork of vehicles, thereby helping to conserve resources. Thanks to new recycling technologies, we are also able to recycle more material residues generated during film production