igus Announces Partnership with the National Forest Foundation (NFF)
Leader in motion plastics announces new partnership with the National Forest Foundation to aid in campaign to plant more than 50 million trees
October 3, 2022 – igus®, the Germany-based manufacturer of motion plastics, announced the company has partnered with the National Forest Foundation (NFF) on its “50 Million for Our Forests” tree planting campaign. The NFF supports restoration and community engagement on National Forests across the country. The partnership aligns with igus’ corporate mission to improve what moves with a carbon-neutral footprint and zero plastic waste. Under the partnership with NFF, igus has committed to planting 10,000 trees by the end of 2023, with the long-term goal of planting over 100,000 trees.
The National Forest Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization chartered by the United States Congress to work with the United States Forest Service to restore and enhance America’s National Forests and Grasslands.
“We are proud to work with an organization that plays such an important role in supporting our National Forests,” said Artur Peplinski, President and CEO at igus, Inc. “Partnering with the National Forest Foundation to protect our natural resources is a natural fit for igus and aligns closely with our corporate commitment to reducing our environmental impact.”
Committed to Environmental Sustainability
For over 50 years, igus has been regranulating 99 percent of the plastic waste generated in production and has been certified according to ISO standard 14001 Environmental Management Systems since 2019.
In 2020, igus invested in hydrothermal plastic recycling solution startup Mura Technology, which converts plastic back to oil. The technology enables plastic, which would otherwise pollute the environment, to be reused as a valuable raw material.
This year, igus launched two new products made from 100 percent recycled material – the cradle-chain® E2.1.CG and iglide® ECO plain bearings. These products use recycled material reclaimed from the igus “chainge” recycling program – a green initiative where customers can send discarded energy chains, regardless of the manufacturer, to igus for recycling. As part of this program, more than 32 tons of material from 13 countries have been collected. The collected material is sorted, cleaned, re-granulated, and prepared to manufacture new products without sacrificing quality in terms of wear behavior, stability, or permanent bending changes.
Platform for bike and component manufacturers
The new igus:bike platform, also introduced this year, offers bicycle manufacturers the opportunity to advance this technology jointly. The platform is intended to become a contact point for manufacturers who want to build a plastic bicycle and for all manufacturers of suitable components, such as plastic frames, wheels, drives, and pinions. The platform continuously shows the status and progress of all components and explicitly invites market players to participate. The platform is already hosting initial corporate collaborations. To learn more about igus’ commitment to sustainability, click here.
