Pöppelmann KAPSTO®: Blue Angel for numerous sustainable protective elements – and even more products made from post-consumer recycled material

Renowned environmental label Blue Angel for protection elements from Pöppelmann KAPSTO® made of PCR polyethylene (PCR-PE) and since January 2021 also for products made of PCR polypropylene. (Image: Pöppelmann)

More sustainability in hybrid and electric vehicles: GPN 380 connector cap made from PCR-PP for high-voltage applications in the automotive segment. (Image: Pöppelmann)

Pöppelmann KAPSTO®, a specialist for plastic caps and plugs to protect sensitive components in industry, demonstrates further successes around the topic of resource conservation. With products made from post-consumer recycled material (short: PCR), which are recyclable after use, the plastics specialist ensures closed material cycles and thus a careful handling of the valuable plastic material. To this end, more and more Pöppelmann KAPSTO® products are awarded the Blue Angel environmental label – a real motivation for the manufacturer of protective elements, which has expanded its range of items made from post-consumer recycled materials.

Blue Angel: Now also for protective elements made from PCR polypropylene

Since January 2020, Pöppelmann KAPSTO® has been allowed to label products made from PCR polyethylene (PCR-PE) with the Blue Angel, the oldest environmental label in the world. Since January 2021, this labeling has been extended to protective elements made from PCR polypropylene (PCR-PP). The renowned product label Blue Angel, awarded by the independent Environmental Label Jury, is issued on behalf of the Federal Ministry for the Environment. It applies to all products in the KAPSTO® catalog that can be made from the two types of post-consumer recycled plastics used by Pöppelmann KAPSTO®.

Many new standard series: Sustainability with PCR-PE and PCR-PP

Since spring 2021, around 100 new products from six different standard series have complemented the resource-saving catalog program of items made from PCR-PE – ranging from pipe protection caps (GPN 250) to handle plugs (GPN 310), lamella plugs (GPN 330), closures (GPN 350), cone closures (GPN 600), and universal protection (GPN 620). The protective elements are made of 100 percent post-consumer recycled plastics in the used material. They impress with proven KAPSTO® product features, which are on par with the quality of existing standard series made from new materials, and are available directly from stock. Since 2019, two popular standard series have been available as resource-saving alternatives made from PCR-PE in the color "Recycling Blue": the cone closure with side tab (GPN 608 PCR-PE, blue) and the universal protection in conical form (GPN 610 PCR-PE, blue). Since 2020, Pöppelmann KAPSTO® has also offered standard series for high-voltage applications in the automotive segment with the plug caps (GPN 380 and GPN 384) made from PCR-PP and the plug cover GPN 385 made from PCR-PE, now also in a sustainable version. The HV protective elements are suitable for protecting connectors from various manufacturers, used for components and parts of hybrid or electric vehicles in applications with DC voltages between 60 and 400 volts.

Engine for more sustainability: Initiative PÖPPELMANN blue®

Responsible for the continuous expansion of the range of resource-saving protective elements made from recycled plastics is the initiative PÖPPELMANN blue®, launched in 2018. It consolidates all activities of the entire Pöppelmann Group aimed at achieving a closed material cycle. It includes, among other things, guidelines for circular product concepts, drives the development of PCR materials so that resource-efficient items become standard, and promotes the testing of practical solutions in pilot projects with various customers. This includes, for example, the collection of used protective caps and sealing plugs at selected customers, their return to Pöppelmann, and the processing of the material into PCR granulate – which is then available again for manufacturing new KAPSTO® protective plastic elements. By the end of 2020, Pöppelmann KAPSTO® successfully closed a material cycle in ongoing series production with a well-known automobile manufacturer.