Global bathroom and kitchen fittings brand GROHE has launched its first Cradle to Cradle products, reinforcing the brand’s commitment to a circular economy.

After adapting to waste recycling rates of 99% and using brass with recycling proportions of up to 80%, GROHE is taking the next big step towards circular value creation by launching four best-selling products as Cradle to Cradle Certified® 2 variants. The launch also follows the brand’s switch to carbon-neutral production and targets to replace all product packaging plastic with environmentally-friendly alternatives.

“Gold level certification is a strong validation of GROHE’s commitment to transforming its products and business model from linear to circular,” says Dr. Christina Raab, Vice President of Strategy and Development for the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute. “By using the Cradle to Cradle Certified Product Standard to optimise the sustainability of the taps and shower rail set, GROHE is establishing a new benchmark within the sanitary industry for the design and delivery of products that are safe, circular and responsibly made.”

The C2C concept is an approach for designing intelligent products, processes, and systems by taking the entire life cycle into account. All materials are understood as nutrients in closed biological or technical cycles. The concept differentiates between consumer goods (e.g. natural fibres or detergent), which are biodegradable, and service products (e.g. taps), that are broken down into their original materials. Therefore, resources can potentially be re-used endlessly, meaning that the C2C approach goes far beyond the conventional recycling of products. Cradle to Cradle Certified®products have thus been assessed for their use of environmentally safe, healthy, and recyclable materials.

Three taps – GROHE BauEdge S-Size, GROHE Eurosmart S-Size and GROHE Eurosmart Kitchen – and the GROHE Tempesta shower rail set are now Cradle to Cradle Certified at the Gold level. Moreover, the sustainable impact of GROHE BauEdge and GROHE Eurosmart is enhanced with SilkMove ES technology, where ES stands for energy-saving. The technology prevents the unnecessary use of hot water by supplying only cold water when the tap lever is in the middle position. In this way, GROHE’s SilkMove ES technology can help reduce a building’s carbon footprint – particularly important in light of the fact that carbon emissions from buildings and construction constitute almost 40% of global carbon emissions. GROHE has achieved the Gold level with all four products submitted for certification.

“Circularity is a long journey and we are at the very beginning”, explains Thomas Fuhr, Leader Fittings LIXIL International and Co-CEO Grohe AG. “The certification process is extremely demanding – it considers upstream manufacturing processes as well as internal production – but the gains are clear: a drastic reduction in the consumption of new resources. It is our obligation to drive a mindset shift in the industry.”

To break this new ground in product development, GROHE has collaborated with strong partners and drawn on the revolutionary Cradle to Cradle®(C2C) design concept, which has become increasingly significant for those striving for a circular economy. In contrast to a linear model, the C2C concept enables GROHE to drastically reduce the use of new resources: a product is designed and manufactured with the intent of using its components in its end-of-life-phase for the creation of new products.

“There is a massive opportunity for innovation in the building sector, since it accounts for more than 50% of the worldwide material consumption”, said Prof. Dr. Michael Braungart, who developed the C2Cdesign concept together with William McDonough. “GROHE plays an important role in setting a precedent that circularity in the sanitary industry is indeed possible.”

GROHE’s research laboratory in Hemer, Germany, played a crucial role in the certification process and advanced the brand’s journey to its first Cradle to Cradle Certified products.

“To achieve a certification, a product is evaluated in terms of the following five categories: material health, material reutilisation, renewable energy, water stewardship, and social fairness. Each product is then designated a level of achievement,” says Torsten Meier, Leader Research and Development Fittings LIXIL International. “By evaluating all components, we were able to gain further insights into our products, which we will use for upcoming product developments.”

GROHE has taken a decisive step on its path towards a circular future by achieving its first Cradle to Cradle Certified® products, but the journey continues. Since bath products typically have a long life cycle, GROHE, next to achieving certifications for further products, is already tackling the next challenge by working on take-back processes for discarded C2C taps in the future.