RHEINZINK: making recycling real
If we return zinc to the material cycle without any loss of quality, we make an important contribution to future generations. The excellent recyclability makes Architectural zinc the material of choice.
What is called recycling is often merely downcycling. At RHEINZINK, we emphasize upcycling and follow the cradle-to-cradle (C2C) principle.
RHEINZINK lives the cradle-to-cradle principle
In contrast to recycling, the C2C principle converts materials including their residual materials, back into a new product without any loss of quality.
The C2C philosophy includes the life cycle approach from the extraction of materials to their reuse. In contrast to the meaning of recycling, the basis of the cradle to cradle principle is that a material retains its original quality. It is used for a new product of at least equal value and is not used in another, inferior way (downcycling). This technical and biological cycle of the cradle-to-cradle principle avoids waste and reduces the burden on the environment.
All over again
If components made of RHEINZINK Architectural zinc are no longer needed, after their use on the building they can be reused with minimal effort to manufacture similar or identical products within the framework of the C2C principle. For example, new wall cladding is created from a decades-old wall cladding – with the same qualitative properties as at it had in the beginning. The material cycle continues over and over again.
100% – more is not possible. Except for three times 100%
RHEINZINK can be easily sorted during renovation work or after a building’s service life. It is 100% recyclable through the normal metal recycling channels. Even the trimmings produced during manufacture are 100% remelted and live on as new products. And what happens to the quality and product properties during the recycling process? They are completely retained in RHEINZINK's material through the C2C principle.
RHEINZINK and recycling facts
