Increased legislation and greater consumer awareness is changing the face of sustainability. What used to be a buzzword has now become a key pillar for businesses of all sizes; a way to stand out in competitive markets.

The drivers are clear. In August 2021, a report by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said climate change is widespread, rapid, and intensifying, and some trends are now irreversible. The UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the Working Group's report was “a code red for humanity”.

There is already legislation in place to drive sustainability, of course. The Paris Agreement was the first-ever universal, legally binding global climate change agreement, adopted in 2015. It sets out a global framework to avoid dangerous climate change by limiting global warming to well below 2°C and pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5°C.

Individual countries have subsequently set their own targets to support the Paris Agreement. The UK was the first major nation in the world to set a target to bring all greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.

However, whilst regulatory change and corporate initiatives such as the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals have been in place for a number of years, the emphasis has shifted in recent times thanks to consumer pressure too.

Buoyed by major campaigns and television shows such as David Attenborough’s Blue Planet, consumer attitudes have intensified. People are more aware and more proactive in their actions towards global waste and climate change – and those of their chosen brands. IBM research shows nearly six in ten consumers are willing to change their shopping habits to reduce environmental impact and nearly eight in ten respondents said sustainability is important for them.

This increase in both regulatory pressure and consumer awareness is placing additional spotlight on businesses to take greater responsibility. And nowhere is it more important than in energy-intensive industries such as construction, manufacturing and industrial. In fact, manufacturing and industrial accounted for 16% of all energy consumption in the UK in 2019 – more than any other sector, according to Gazprom.

Geberit has developed a comprehensive range of products that are regarded as sustainable sanitary solutions, and that contribute to increased quality of life with low energy and water consumption and with ecologically friendly materials. Sound insulation and simple product disposal are also part of responsible product design.

For example, the Geberit urinal system offers major water saving opportunities thanks to the different operation modes and the associated low operation and maintenance costs. An integrated urinal flush control can be operated using three power supply variants, whilst flushing out the urinal ceramic appliance with 0.5 litres per flush ensures compliance with EN 13407, the European standard for wall-hung urinals. Additional opportunities for saving water are made possible thanks to different operation modes, including dynamic flushing time adjustment (hybrid) and waterless operation.

Other solutions with Environmental Product Declarations in line with relevant European standards include the AquaClean Mera shower toilet, various washbasin taps as well as the Silent-PP and Silent-dB20 acoustic piping systems.

The flush and fill valves are one example of using plastic regranulates to improve the sustainability of plastic-based products.

Not all plastic is the same. The quality of Geberit products is defined by their environmental friendliness, durability and conservation of resources. This principle also applies to the use of plastics and Geberit increasingly uses plastic regranulates, or recycled plastics.

At present, this is primarily ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene), which has been recovered from electronic scrap such as plastic cases from home appliances and computers. In 2020, Geberit processed 940 tonnes of this material worldwide.

Recycled ABS is made by first collecting the electronic scrap, disassembling it and then sorting the parts by plastic type. The ABS parts that are not treated with flame retardant are then shredded, washed, sorted, ground and regranulated. This requires 80% less energy to produce the material than compared with producing new plastic.

Geberit purchases the recycled material in the same way as new material and then shapes it into the desired form via injection moulding. Only the anthracite grey colour of the plastic reveals its origin, meaning it cannot be used on visible products. As a result, ABS is particularly suited to fill and flush valves or for the mounting frames on some actuator plates, for example.

By taking plastic and transforming it into high-quality products with a guaranteed long service life, we are making sure that the material is being used in the most targeted and economical way possible. Plastic offers many benefits from a sustainability perspective because it is light, robust and durable, among other aspects.

As a further demonstration of Geberit’s commitment to plastic regranulates, we have signed up to Operation Clean Sweep. This is an international initiative promoted by the plastics industry dedicated to preventing the loss of plastic granules, flakes and powder and ensuring that these materials do not pollute the environment. The goal here is to also uncover potential weaknesses in plastics processing and introduce the necessary improvements in future.