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Recycled materials

Increase the proportion of recycled raw materials in our products

USING RECYCLED MATERIALS

Groupe SEB uses more and more recycled materials in its products. In 2013, the Group set itself the target of incorporating 20% recycled materials in new products and packaging by 2020. It has now exceeded this goal, achieving 34%. The traget is now 50% by 2023.

It also made a specific commitment on recycled plastics, with the goal of doubling the annual use in France by 2025 compared to 2017 (subject to any changes in applicable regulations that might impact this strategy).

 

Metals: more recycled aluminum in cookware

As regards metals, across all products, most of the stainless steel used by the Group is already from recycled sources. This rate is 80% in cookware (utensils, frying pans, saucepans, stewing pots, pressure cookers, etc.).

In the case of aluminium, mostly used for this product category, the proportion of recycled materials is lower but is rising. Using recycled aluminium produces 90% less greenhouse gases than primary aluminium and consumes 16 times less energy.

poele tefal eco respect

In 2009, the Natura cookware range was the first made from 100% recycled aluminum and three years later, in 2012, Tefal established the first recycling system for cookware in France.

More recently, Groupe SEB put on the market the Eco Respect and Resource frying pan ranges, which also use 100% recycled aluminium.

Recycled plastic: significant progress

The Group’s recycled plastics strategy began 10 years ago with the Enjoy utensils, made from 95% recycled PET.

Gamme enjoy pet recyclé

It has since continued to ramp up efforts in this area, led by the Purchasing, Quality, Standards and Environment and Research departments in liaison with the Industry and Marketing departments: cooperation with recyclers to improve the quality of the plastics in question, verifying their regulatory compliance, performing injection and prototype testing, launching pre-production runs, etc.

Compared to plastics from oil, recycled plastics reduces the impact on global warming by nearly 70%.
 
In 2015, the Group was a pioneer in France, setting up the first circular economy loop for small electrical appliances, with Veolia and the Ecosystem eco-organization. This cooperation led to the first steam generator with a polypropylene casing made from recycled electrical and electronic appliances, produced in Pont-Evêque (Silence Steam, Rowenta)

Silence steam

 

Rowenta extended use of this material to the Silence Force Compact (2018) vacuum cleaner bases through specific investment in production lines at the Vernon site. In 2021, this change was made on 63% of all bagged vacuum cleaners produced on the site.

 

The list of products using recycled plastic continues to grow in EMEA but also in South America and Asia, on all product families.

GOALS FOR 2023

- 50% of recycled materials in Group products (including packaging)
- Double the amount of recycled plastic in products manufactured in France (2017 base)