Miele Increasingly Relying on Recyclates

• Clothes-drying machines, cleaning products and vacuum-cleaner accessories will contribute the most

Hardly any other material is as easy to process as plastic. However, many are upset about the great amounts of plastic waste. In Serbia alone, 62,000 tons of plastic is discarded each year, ending up at landfills and in rivers, which is 62% of the total waste produced in our country. What’s encouraging is that as much as 27% of this waste is recycled. Plastic, especially that used in packaging materials, is ideal for recycling and re-use as a so-called recyclate. The way this functions is demonstrated by, for example, Miele clothes-drying machines, cleaning products and vacuum-cleaner accessories.

For Miele, as a family company guided by true values, countering environmental pollution and climate change is what’s most important, as is the sustainability of products and their packaging. At the same time, Miele not only sets the highest standards for their devices, but also for the packaging, regarding the resilience to temperature, protection from light and the safety of products. Cleaning products, for example, have to be able to withstand the stress of transport and fluctuations in various climate conditions.

– Designing packaging so that it not only meets these requirements, but also reduce its impact on the environment, is a huge challenge that we have to face proactively – says Christoph Wendeker, the vice-president for corporate sustainability and regulatory affairs at Miele Group.

In concrete terms, it means that Miele will consistently work on implementing the principles of circular economy and re-use materials wherever possible, without any relevant reduction in the level of quality. The aim is to increase the amount of recycled plastic materials to as much as 7,500 tons by 2025.

– Miele is at the beginning of a long road, which not only pertains to the use of recyclable materials in packaging, but also in finished products – Wendeker continues. When it comes to metals, the use of recyclates has already progressed far at Miele, which is adopting the same approach to plastic with a strong conviction.

Savings on materials of 30% realized thanks to new production processes

The newly developed floor module, which is used on nearly all new models of clothes-drying machines, makes an impressive contribution. Thanks to an innovative production process, in which nitrogen is injected into plastic, the savings on materials of 30% is achieved, which at the same time improves the stability of the component. Over the years, this increases to the savings of several hundred tons of the granulate. What’s more, at its production facility in Bielefeld, the company increasingly produces vacuum-cleaner accessories such as furniture brushes and other special extensions made from recyclates. At the moment, they are testing the possibility of switching to recyclates for other additional equipment, including exhaust filters. For example, the frame of the Hygiene AirClean filter on the new Boost Cx1 vacuum-cleaner is made from a 100% recycled material.

PowerDisk – Packaging entire made from recyclates

Buyers have access to cleaning and care products which are not only perfectly adapted to Miele devices, but also feature an environmentally-friendly packaging. PowerDisk, which is a unique innovation in the segment of dish-washing machines, is packed by Miele into a packaging made from 100% recycled plastic. Also, the packaging of other bottles for detergents for dish-washing and clothes-washing machines has mostly already been redesigned and uses recycled materials.

About the company: Miele is the leading world producer of top-quality home appliances, including devices for cooking, baking and steam-cooking, cooling devices, coffee machines, dish-washing machines and products for clothes-washing and floor-cleaning. Their product portfolio also includes dish-washing machines, air cleaners, clothes-washing machines and clothes-drying machines for commercial use, as well as washing-disinfection machines and sterilizers for use in medical and laboratory applications (Miele Professional). Founded in 1899, the company has eight production facilities in Germany and one each in Austria, the Czech Republic, China, Romania and Poland, as well as two production factories belonging to its Italian medical technology subsidiary Steelco. The sales in the business year 2020 amounted to around EUR 4.5 billion (of which 29.5% in Germany). Miele is present with its own sales branches and through importers in nearly 100 countries/regions. This family company, now in its fourth generation, employs around 20,900 workers worldwide. The company’s seat is located in Gutersloh, Westphalia.

Miele d.o.o. Beograd

Miele

Steelco

Christoph Wendker

recycled plastic

recyclates

plastic waste

family company

climate change

environmental pollution

packaging

circular economy

savings on materials

granulates

exhaust filters

Hygiene AirClean filter

Boost CX1 vacuum cleaner

PowerDisk

ecological packaging

home appliances

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