07. Apr 2022

Focus on Sustainability

Chrom 2030


During 2021 the members of the Fachverband Galvanisierte Kunststoffe (FGK) set out a strategy for achieving sustainability. In doing so, they underscore their intention to be sustainable businesses that proactively face the upcoming challenges of the industry. The strategic goals were presented in March 2022 at the established industry event “Chrom 2030”. In this context BIA Technology Manager Automotive Dr Markus Häp spoke about the circular economy for electroplated components.

Recycling and resource efficiency are key issues in the industry. With its sustainability strategy, the FGK emphasizes the claim of its member companies to make sustainable management one of the cornerstones of their actions. Because: plated plastic parts are sustainable! With the authorization of chromium trioxide and the associated activities having been the dominant topics for many years, the FGK members are now looking at the sustainability of their products as a whole.

With regard to REACH conformity and substitution, they have undertaken to create all the necessary prerequisites for a complete conversion to trivalent chrome plating by 2025 and to implement this in cooperation with their customers by 2028 at the latest. For the substitution of Chromium Trioxide in the pre-treatment the FGK has set a timeframe of 2022 to 2031. The EU Commission judged this schedule to be credible. The time lag compared to chrome plating results from the considerable ongoing efforts to develop alternative processes for the conditioning of plastics, which has still to be completed. The regular FGK round robin tests on this attest to steady improvement, as the results of the current third round robin test demonstrate. This positive development could lead to significantly earlier implementation of a completely Chromium(VI)-free electroplating process in specific companies.

The optimization and further development of all internal material cycles as well as the realization of a genuine recycling of the entire plated component subsumed under the keyword circular economy, had been addressed by BIA Technology Manager Automotive, Dr Markus Häp (watch the recording of the presentation here). He referred positively to the prospect for segregating all recyclable materials used in the manufacture of chrome-plated plastic components. These can be almost completely separated in the recycling process and can then be used to manufacture new, equivalent products and surface finishes. In this context, Häp also emphasized the commitment of the FGK companies – from 2023 – to take back components at the end the product life cycle and feed them into the recycling process.

The third pillar of the sustainability concept of the FGK is the commitment of all members to climate-neutral production according to Scope 1 (direct emissions from oil, gas and petrol) and Scope 2 (indirect emissions from energy production) by 2030. In addition, an industry-specific database on the CO 2 footprints of purchased products will be created so that product-related CO 2 balances can also be provided from 2023 (Scope 3). The prerequisites for achieving these ambitious goals are good: technologies such as photovoltaics and combined heat and power units to reduce energy use and thus greenhouse gas emissions are already in widespread use in the member companies.

The collected contributions from the “Chrom 2030” event can be found here.

Chrom 2030
Chrom 2030

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