Miele places not only the highest of demands on its products but also on packaging – for example with respect to resilience, temperature resistance, protection against light and product safety. Cleaning products, for instance, must be able to withstand the strains of transportation and fluctuations in climatic conditions. “Designing packaging in such a way as to not only meet these requirements but also reduce the burden on the environment is a huge challenge we must face proactively”, says Christoph Wendker, Vice President Corporate Sustainability and Regulatory Affairs at the Miele Group. In concrete terms, this means that Miele will consistently work on implementing the principles of a circular economy and reuse materials wherever this is possible without any relevant reductions in quality levels. The objective is to increase the volume of plastic recyclates to as much as 7,500 tonnes by 2025. “Miele is at the beginning of a long journey which is not just about using recycled and recyclable materials in packaging but also in finished goods”, Wendker continues. Where metals are concerned, the use of recyclates is already far advanced at Miele, and the company is adopting the same approach on plastics. A contribution is made by a newly developed floor module used on almost all new tumble dryer models. Thanks to an innovative production process in which nitrogen is injected into plastic, material savings of 30% are achieved – whilst at the same time improving the stability of the component. And, since 2021, recycled plastics have been in use for the first time on the lid of this module. Over the course of a year, this mounts up to savings in the order of several hundred tonnes of granulate. Furthermore, at its Bielefeld production plant, the company is increasingly manufacturing vacuum cleaner accessories such as upholstery brushes, crevice nozzles, dusting brushes and special-purpose attachments from recyclate. The option of switching to recyclates is currently being examined for other accessories, including exhaust filters. The frame of the Hygiene AirClean filter on the new Boost CX1 vacuum cleaner is made from 100% recyclate.
