Is recycling the only circular approach?
Is recycling the only circular approach?
As a manufacturer of products for electrotechnical and networked building control technology, we at Gira are conscious that our activities are harmful to the environment.
We extract raw materials and process them to create our products. However, it is clear to us that, in the future, only those companies that are able to offer environmentally sustainable solutions will continue to prosper in the long-term. We work every day on reducing the environmental harm caused by our products and on increasing the efficiency with which we make use of resources.
We want to continue to reduce our use of fossil raw materials in the future and are therefore seeking out alternative materials. Anywhere where we use finite raw materials such as plastics or metals, we contribute by making our products as durable and as recyclable as possible in order to increase their circularity.
Quality and durability.
Thanks to its ISO 9001:2015 certification, Gira has an integrated management system that guarantees the quality and continuous improvement of our products and services.
Products from Gira’s mechanical portfolio are tested in our test laboratory beyond their guaranteed service life and the required VDE standards. This ensures that Gira products will be with you for a long time, making them a sound investment. The Gira Service Centre is able to repair defective or damaged products, provided this is what the customer wants and provided it is economically viable. To this end, we ensure that spare parts are available beyond the service life of our products.
Robust and recyclable plastics in Gira products.
We process fossil raw materials to make plastic. Since the introduction of our new generations of socket outlets and switches, we have exclusively been using thermoplastics for our in-house production. Thermoplastics can be remelted and therefore recycled with less energy than it takes to recycle thermoset plastics.1 At the same time, the thermoplastics used by Gira are so robust that they are dimensionally stable and have been proven to offer a long service life of at least 20 years during testing. We are conscious that the plastics we use are not yet fully recyclable and that they are not yet fully circular. For that reason, we are continuously testing alternative materials in our plastics production.
Sustainable design lines made from recycled material.
The Gira E2 light grey is the ideal choice for the particularly eco-conscious customer. The plastic parts of the design line include a large proportion1 of recycled materials, which reduces their carbon footprint by around 54% when compared with new materials.2 The Gira E2 in colour aluminium and grey matt is also partly made from recycled materials.
Gira Esprit linoleum-plywood as a design frame made from natural materials.
Gira Esprit linoleum-plywood captivates with its simple design and organic materials, sourced from renewable raw materials. In doing so, we have reduced its carbon footprint by around 75%.3
The Gira System 55. Now and in the future.
For more than 25 years, the Gira System 55 has stood out with its timeless, modular product design with the conscious avoidance of short-lived trends. It can be extended as required as your customers' building situation evolves and, thanks to its wide range of functions, will continue to meet changing requirements in the future.
The new, resource-friendly Gira packaging standard.
We are also striving to protect resources when it comes to our packaging, as well as making it easier to dispose of on the construction site. The new Gira packaging standard therefore does not use any bleaching agents and consists of only recycled, FSC-certified paper. We want to completely do away with the use of plastics in the future. Our shipping bags and filling materials are now made exclusively from paper, and we are working on converting further packaging elements. We are continually optimising the volume of our packaging to reduce our use of filling materials. This saves space both in the shipping box and in the HGV.
More about sustainability at Gira.
1 Only the socket outlet cover and additional components, such as transparent inscription spaces, are made from new materials.
2 This reduction was determined on the basis of an ecological assessment pursuant to ISO 14040 of a 1-gang plastic cover frame (cradle-to-gate).
3 This reduction was determined on the basis of a life cycle assessment in accordance with ISO 14040 of a Gira cover frame E2 singlegang made of primary plastic in the colour pure white glossy (cradle-to-gate).