igus ‘pedals’ into the future with sustainability at its core

Germany-headquartered igus GmbH held an on-line press conference yesterday — the igus Innovation Show – to update international journalists on its exciting new products in the areas of plastics, automation and digitalisation, as well as a look at the sustainability and cost saving measures the company is investing in at its Cologne headquarters. The event was attended by Machinery Market's online editor John Hunter.

Founded on 15 October 1964 in a garage in Cologne-Mülheim, igus has been keeping the world moving with its lubrication-free high-performance plastics for 60 years. Fast foward to 2025, and the company, which is represented in the UK by Northampton-based igus UK, will be introducing a record 277 motion plastics innovations, showcasing a variety of new lubrication-free plastic products under the banner ‘GO ZERO Lubrication’. These include PTFE-free materials, a complete energy chain series made from recycled materials, and even a humanoid robot. This achievement stems from continuous investment in research and development (R&D), aimed at providing customers with cutting-edge solutions. Despite the challenging political and economic landscape of the past year, igus has still managed to increase the number of active customers by 5% and reach its billion-euro turnover target.

To mark the company’s 60-year anniversary in October last year, the igus:bike, now renamed RCYL, a unique urban bike developed by the company from recycled plastic, embarked on a 12-month world tour which will finish in the UK in October 2025 (picture left shows the RCYL in Vietnam). The bike will cover a total of 6,000km, visiting major cities, travelling besides rivers and beaches and visiting several customers applications along the way. With no rust, and no lubrication required, this endeavour should be ‘a breeze’ as this bike is virtually maintenance-free.

Matthew Aldridge, managing director at igus UK in Northampton, said: “The changing political and economic conditions have impacted us. Like many of our customers, we are focusing on savings and efficiency, such as increased automation in our factory. However, our focus remains: ‘What's in it for the customer?' These challenges motivate us to innovate and enhance our competitiveness and that of our customers. This year, igus is introducing a record number of motion plastics products and continues to invest in R&D, and production of new technical solutions. The company’s Cologne site, where we manufacture, test, and research, now spans 218,000m², including a new 20,000m² test laboratory, the largest in the industry.”

Photovoltaic systems
igus has reached 92% of its goal to be CO₂-neutral in it headquarters buildings and production by the end of 2025, measured against Scopes 1 and 2. Mr Aldridge continued: “We need to improve further though. In Germany, we are implementing many sustainability measures, including a new multi-storey car park with façade greening, modernising buildings with photovoltaic systems, and expanding our machine heat recovery system (MHRS) to efficiently heat buildings.”

Furthermore, environmentally-friendly solutions such as PTFE-free versions of its standard plain bearing materials are also being launched. Regarding energy chains in general, igus is also converting its entire E2.1 series to recycled material consisting of post-consumer recyclate, such as old fishing nets, and disused energy chains, which the company recycles as part of its own ‘Chainge’ programme. This reduces the CO₂ footprint by 80%.

Meanwhile, with the igus Mobile Shore Power Outlet (iMSPO), igus has also developed a mobile ‘socket’ for the shore power supply of container and cruise ships. The system is already in use in a number of major ports, including Hamburg, Rotterdam and Singapore, and has been nominated for this year's prestigious Hermes Award at Hannover Messe taking place next week.



igus is also driving forward new solutions for dry cleanrooms, increasingly important in battery production lines. Together with Fraunhofer IPA, the company has developed a new type of certificate that confirms the cleanroom suitability of igus e-chains in long-term tests. These chains can withstand over 15 million double strokes with minimal particle emissions.

At a time when many companies are looking to make savings, igus is investing in the development of cost-effective products for its customers. This includes the new glide-chain G4.42 for simple gliding applications such as indoor cranes, with up to 30m travel. Due to its optimised design, it is not only up to 25% lighter, but also around 40% more cost-effective than standard chains of the same dimensions from the E2 and E4 product range. The company is also currently developing its first humanoid robot made of high-performance plastic, based on the mobile robot ReBeL Move. This means that it can be deployed and operated at different workstations — with a return on investment of less than one year.