Recycled Plastics for Premium Brands

How do you identify and act on the biggest levers in your environmental footprint?

In this episode, Marcel Niederberger, Head of Sustainability, and Marc Vetterli, Sustainability Expert in Engineering, explain how V-ZUG used life cycle assessment to discover that material intensity (and not just energy efficiency) drives environmental impact in home appliances.

What you'll hear in this episode: • Why it is essential to carry on life-cycle assessments of all products. • The development process behind high-quality recycled ABS for visible white panels in washing machines and dryers, and its scalability. • V-ZUG's self-imposed CO2 penalty that funds fundamental research and early-stage circular projects.

The episode also explores practical implementation topics, including closing material loops with suppliers, designing for reuse across product generations, and building competitive advantage.

This episode concludes the "Recycled Plastics for Premium Brands" series, sponsored by HolyPoly.

The series focused on the practicalities of using technical recyclates in long-lasting, high quality products.

People Marcel Niederberger, Head of Sustainability at V-Zug https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcel-niederberger-18a588105/

Marc Vetterli, Sustainability Expert Engineering at V-Zug https://www.linkedin.com/in/marc-vetterli-96456b17a/

Patrick Hypscher, Circular Business Strategist, PaaS Expert https://www.linkedin.com/in/hypscher/

Chapters 00:00 Introduction 03:26 Reasons for Increasing the Share of Recycled Materials 06:28 V-Zug’s Circularity Approach - R’s Strategies 09:06 Material Loops and Recycled Plastics Deep-dive 23:06 Cost Factors and Supply Chain Considerations 29:32 Product Design 33:26 Funding Projects 35:35 Material Properties 38:57 Circularity - Scaling and Competitive Advantage

About V-ZUG is a Swiss premium manufacturer of household appliances, specialising in high-end kitchen and laundry equipment designed for long service lives.

V-ZUG collaborates with partners to integrate recycled materials, including selected plastics, into its products while maintaining stringent performance and design standards.

Further Links https://www.vzug.com

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