The challenge

Recycling plastics like polyamide is generally quite straightforward. In fact, EDELRID has manufactured products from recycled ropes before.

In the case of dynamic ropes, however, things are far more difficult. The process of recycling generally leads to a lower quality material. In the past, it has not been technically feasible to use such material to make ropes that meet the high safety requirements of EN 892—and this is an area in which no compromises can be made as, ultimately, people's lives hang on these ropes!

The solution

After six years of intensive research in cooperation with the ITA Aachen and our recycling partner Hoffmann+ Voss, we have finally succeeded in developing a way to produce ropes that are fully certified to EN 892/UIAA and made from re-used pre-consumer ropes. This enables us to put the leftover rope from production processes straight back into the production cycle, thereby conserving resources.

To achieve the above, the starting material is ground up in a multi-stage process and turned into agglomerate and granulate.

In contrast to injection molding material, which is easy to produce, the challenge now lies in obtaining spinnable material that can be used to make high-strength yarns. Furthermore, these high-performance yarns have to be in harmony with other recycled and new materials, i.e. they must complement each other. This is the only way to ensure that the high standards regarding strength, elongation and other such factors are fulfilled. The machines and entire production process also have to be modified for such a rope.

The process

1. PRE CONSUMER ROPES
The ropes are blended to grist – easy, from here on it gets complex.

2. GRIST
The grist ist melted and processed to a stage called agglomerate.

3. AGGLOMERATE
This is where the biggest magic is happening.

4. REGRANULATE
The regranulate is extruded to yarns – A very sensitive process.

5. YARN
The yarn is braided to a rope – Our expertise!

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"Our ropes are eco friendly" - Respecting the enviroment

Quality and safety are the key factors that have been driving us further since the very beginning. When making responsible and innovative high-performance ropes we also consequently have been following the maxim of sustainability. This is why EDELRID has set new industry benchmarks for sustainable rope production.

We are the first rope manufacturer to adapt our ropes to meet the tough demands of the Swiss bluesign® system. It is the most stringent environmental standard for the production of textile products: independent, internationally recognised and based on the five principles of resource productivity, consumer safety, water emission, air emission as well as occupational health & safety.

Our ropes carry the bluesign® product label thanks to their combination of certified source materials and our advanced rope production facilities in Isny. The bluesign® product label is a seal of quality: It guarantees an eco-friendly manufactured product that is low in pollutants and safe for health and the environment.

As such, we have responded to the natural demands of our customers for safe, environmentally friendly and sustainable products.
Eight years of working together with bluesign technologies ag in Switzerland, allow us to draw on in-depth experience of sustainable rope production. By converting all our rope production to the tough demands of the bluesign® system we were able to make the following efficiencies when dyeing sheath yarns:

62 %
CO2 Reduzierung
89 %
Wasserersparnis
63 %
geringerer Energieverbrauch
63 %
weniger Chemie

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