chainge - plastic recycling made easy

Your digital partner for the circular economy

As a manufacturer of high-performance plastics, the sustainable and resource-saving use of plastic is very important to us. Therefore, with chainge, we have created a programme for the circular economy to make the recycling of engineering and industrial plastics particularly easy. Recycle your old energy chains from igus and other manufacturers free of charge with chainge. You save transport and disposal costs, receive a certificate for the recycled quantity and the CO2emissions saved, and can be sure that the material will be returned to the circular economy. Become a chainger now!

Recycle plastics here

What happens to old products at the end of their life cycle?

In production, it is relatively easy to recycle waste, such as sprues and rejected parts. This so-called post-industrial waste is generally unmixed and uncontaminated, which means it can be processed easily and without complications. However, the situation is different for post-consumer waste, i.e. products that are disposed of after use. Here, there are often no options for sustainable reuse.

Our answer: chainge

In 2019, igus wanted to offer customers the option of returning plastic energy chains for recycling when they had reached the end of their service life. Our chainge programme was created from this desire. The interest and commitment of our customers for this programme was overwhelming and motivated us to think big about recycling. With chainge, you can now recycle not only igus energy chains, but also those from other manufacturers. You can register the used recyclables quickly and easily for recycling; collection and recycling are free of charge for you. You will receive an annual certificate detailing the amount of recycled material and the CO2 emissions saved. Since the start of chainge, we have already recycled over 251,000kg of material.

Recycling is easy with chainge

Collect

Collecting recyclable materials by type enables targeted recycling, e.g. by igus energy chains or specific types of plastic.

Clean

Free your recyclables from dirt. Materials that are contaminated by chemicals, oil or other critical media cannot be recycled at chainge.

Weigh

Weigh your recyclables without foreign parts that have to be sorted out first.

Return registration

Register the return of your recyclables with us. Simply enter material information, provide contact details and send the enquiry.

Free collection

After registration, we will arrange for collection from your premises within the next 7-10 business days. We will respond to your personal requests in a separate e-mail.

Enquire about plastic recycling now

Which energy chains can be recycled through the chainge programme, and which cannot?

igus energy chain E2

Schwarze Energiekette von Fremdhersteller

Schwarze Energiekette von anderem Hersteller

Energiekette ohne Fremdteile

At chainge, all energy chains made of PA6 (polyamide 6) can be recycled. Foreign parts such as mounting brackets, rol e-chain links or cables must be sorted out beforehand and the chains must be clean or only lightly soiled.

igus energy chains made of igumid G, G LW and CG LW, such as the E2 and E4 series
Black energy chains from other manufacturers that do not contain any coloured elements

igus e-skin and e-skin flat energy chains

Fremde Energieketten mit farbigen Elementen

Energieketten von anderem Hersteller mit farbigen Elementen

Stark verschmutzte Energieketten mit Fremdteilen

Energy chains that are made of a different material than PA6 (polyamide 6) , contain foreign parts or are very dirty cannot be recycled by chainge. These include, among others, the following chains:

igus energy chains made of igumid TE or iglidur J (series E3, E6, C6 and TH3)
igus energy chains made of igumid NB (easy chain)
igus e-skin and e-skin flat energy chains
Energy chains from other manufacturers with coloured elements, e.g. yellow points
Energy chains with aluminium crossbars, dirt or oil residue

Recycle industrial plastics now – it's easy

Sustainable action is an important topic that we want to promote in the German economy. To this end, we have created a white paper that explains the most important terms for correct recycling and shows the importance of plastics, including recycled plastics, in Germany. In addition, our chainge programme also presents a simple way to recycle technical and industrial plastics to support the circular economy.

Download white paper here

White paper: Recycling of industrial plastics

Download white paper here

Your benefits of the chainge programme

Cost savings

With chainge, you save twice over: you save on the costs of collecting your old energy chains, and you also save on the costs that would be incurred for disposal.

Sustainability certificate

You will receive an annual certificate for your commitment to sustainability. The chainge certificate documents the amount you have recycled and the CO₂ emissions saved through recycling.

Energy chains made from recycled material

Thanks to chainge, the E2.1 energy chain series is now made from 100% recycled material (small amounts of virgin material may be added during the preparation process where necessary to meet quality standards).

The E2.1 energy chain series is made from recycled chainge material

The recycling material from our chainge programme, along with other recycled plastic products, flows into our material igumid CG LW, a further development of our recycled material igumid CG. Following extensive testing at our test laboratory, we completely switched the E2.1 energy chain series to this new material in 2025. This reduces the CO2 footprint by 80% compared to the standard material.

These partners trust us

Since the launch of chainge in 2019, we have already recycled over 251,000kg of material and returned it to the circular economy. Many different customers have participated in our programme and put their trust in us. They have become chaingers, as some particularly positive feedback below shows:

It is our intention to save resources. Our goal is to separate the materials of our old machines according to raw materials as far as possible and to transfer them to the circular economy.

Michael Friess

Head of Purchasing Logistics, Otto Christ AG

The igus chainge programme fits with Hydro's company philosophy. We reduce the CO2 footprint of aluminium production by using recycled consumer scrap.

Sören Hantke

Maintenance Engineer, Hydro Extrusion Germany

Everything we do for our environment is capital well invested. We save raw materials, especially in the recycling sector. The returns process was simple and straightforward.