Green Practices

Hansgrohe and the Art of Green Manufacturing

Solar Power: Clean Energy for Hansgrohe's Offenburg Plant

Since 1993, Hansgrohe has powered its production facility in Offenburg, Germany, using environmentally-friendly solar energy equipment. The photovoltaic power generator produces enough electricity per year to supply 40 single-family homes with power. The electricity from the solar energy is fed in its entirety into the Offenburg plant’s power grid and is utilized in eco-friendly shower manufacturing. The power generator reduces roughly 100 tons of greenhouse gases per year.

Hansgrohe has taken many steps towards reducing manufacturing material wastes, especially with the nickel and brass used in faucets and the plastics used in the molding of showerheads and handshowers. The company worked with researchers and universities to evaluate the environmental impact of waste and to find ways to recover it and use as much recycled material as possible. By 2004, the company was reutilizing over 85% of material wastes that would have otherwise been scrapped and impacted the environment.

Green Manufacturing

Hansgrohe has taken many steps towards reducing manufacturing material wastes, especially with the nickel and brass used in faucets and the plastics used in the molding of showerheads and handshowers. The company worked with researchers and universities to evaluate the environmental impact of waste and to find ways to recover it and use as much recycled material as possible. By 2004, the company was reutilizing over 85% of material wastes that would have otherwise been scrapped and impacted the environment.

Certified Results

Hansgrohe places the highest priority on maintaining a safe work setting for employees, protecting our environment and manufacturing top-quality products. As a result of our efforts in all of these areas, Hansgrohe earned three international certifications: ISO 9001:2000 (Quality Management System), ISO 14001 (Environmental Management System) and OHSAS 18001 (Safety and Health Management System). Hansgrohe is among the few companies in all industries in the United States to achieve all three certifications, highlighting our active commitment to world-class operations and
eco-friendly manufacturing.

Changing the Face of Plating

The Hansgrohe Group holds numerous patents related to coating technology and frequently plays a pioneering role without being restricted by the boundaries of the trade. A completely new metallization technique for plastics was developed in 2004, for example. The company invested nearly 2.5 million Euros in the new manufacturing method, which not only reduces the harmful effects on the environment and on personnel, but also on production costs – and improves the quality of the product at the same time.

This innovative technique is made possible by an electrochemical process containing virtually no chrome VI and requires no purely chemical nickel-plating at all, unlike conventional techniques that use large amounts of chromic acid. This results in a considerable reduction in the contamination of outgoing water and air. It also requires less energy as the working temperature of the process bath is around 50 to 59 degrees lower than that of baths used in the traditional processes.