Earth Day 2024: Planet vs. Plastics
Earth Day is one of the most widely celebrated events in the world. This year's theme, planet vs. plastics, sounds familiar to us as we aim at using plastics in a responsible way. It's important to speak out on this subject, reaffirming our commitment to the sustainable management of these materials. It's a central point for our engineers, who are working to strike a balance between the use of plastic materials and metal alloys. We must consider all the parameters of a material and calculate their impact in volume, weight and life cycle at every stage of life (from sourcing to end of life).
We believe that responsibly managed plastic materials are an appropriate solution for our business. We therefore work to continually improve the recyclability of our products, and support research and development into the most sustainable materials.
“Plastics” Management: Our Approach
- Differentiation: Our long lifetime products differentiate from single-use plastics.
- Eco-design:
Eco-design is part of our solutions engineering process, aiming at reducing the environmental impact of new products generations compared to the previous ones.
Our Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) demonstrates that plastic bodies have a lower carbon footprint than brass bodies.
- Scraps recycling: Through recycling we actively reuse scraps, minimizing waste and our environmental footprint.
- Water resource protection: Our major injection plant in Saint-Louis (France) joined the voluntary program Operation Clean Sweep in 2017.
Products Improvement
In 2023, demonstrating our dedication to sustainable innovation, we introduced two plastic parts made from 100% recycled materials, notably our ultrasonic energy meter Sharky 775 and our Radio VHF CP V2.
Last year, we achieved an average recyclability rate of 61%, underlining our focus on using materials that can be effectively recycled.
Our Ongoing Commitment:
Going forward, we are committed to increasing the percentage of recycled material used in our products. Diehl Metering remains steadfast in our pursuit of advancing circular economy practices, ensuring plastics have a sustainable lifecycle. We've qualified a solution to improve the recyclability of our clip-on radio modules used in water metering. By eliminating potting, electronics and batteries are now more accessible for recycling.
Diehl Metering remains dedicated to eco-design principles, ensuring that the end-of-life management of our solutions is environmentally responsible.
Explore our website to learn more about these sustainable product enhancements and our continued efforts to make a positive impact. Sustainability | Diehl Metering
How much do you know about our Earth? Test your knowledge!
Quiz: Earth Day Quiz | Official Earth Day Website | earthday.org