BRAUNGART EPEA and CLASSEN Group aim to further establish^{CERAMIN® and} other healthy-living building materials

Kaisersesch/Hamburg, August 9, 2023. “PVC is not a material of the future, and PVC production and use should be phased out sooner rather than later.” With this clear statement, Cradle-to-Cradle pioneer Prof. Dr. Michael Braungart introduces his interim report on the collaboration between BRAUNGART EPEA – International Environmental Research GmbH and the CLASSEN Group. Against the backdrop of the impending PVC ban under the European Union’s Green Deal and the REACH Regulation, the focus is shifting to materials, products, and processes that are suitable for the circular economy and pose no harm to either people or the environment. According to Braungart,^CERAMIN®, the PVC-free material developed by the CLASSEN Group, is of outstanding interest to the entire flooring industry—which, to date, has largely continued to supply the construction sector and the market with PVC in design and vinyl flooring on a large scale—due to its recyclability and health benefits. As part of a broad alliance—which will in the future include additional companies that also avoid the use of PVC—the goal is to further establish polypropylene (PP) as an equivalent, and above all, a healthier alternative to PVC. The Cradle-to-Cradle certification process for^CERAMIN®, which has already been initiated, is a first step in this direction.

Prof. Dr. Michael Braungart was awarded the German Sustainability Prize’s Honorary Award just last fall and has long been regarded as a thought leader in the fields of eco-design, waste prevention, and the circular economy. Through the Environmental Protection Encouragement Agency (EPEA), which he founded more than 30 years ago, he and William McDonough established the Cradle to Cradle concept. The concept involves a comprehensive and consistent circular flow. It describes the safe and, in principle, infinite circulation of materials and nutrients within cycles. What biological decomposition of individual product components returned to nature—such as through complete composting—means for the biosphere, complete recycling into new products means for industry and the technosphere. As a result, products and production processes are intended not only to be less harmful to people and nature but also to have a positive impact.

Looming PVC Ban Fuels the Search for Alternatives

Braungart has long been concerned about the harmful effects of PVC. In a preliminary interim assessment of the collaboration with the CLASSEN Group, he highlights all the well-known facts regarding the toxicity to humans and the environment during the production, use, and disposal of PVC, as well as its enormous energy and resource consumption and the near-impossibility of recycling it. At the EU level, a ban on PVC in indoor spaces has been under discussion since at least the publication of the Ramboll study in 2022. This is not the only reason why the search for alternatives—which are not only free of harmful substances but also fully recyclable—is in full swing. The flooring industry is particularly affected by this. In Europe alone, approximately 190 million square meters of PVC-containing vinyl flooring were produced in 2022. That’s equivalent to about 32,000 soccer fields—year after year. About half of the roughly 1.2 million metric tons of material comes from China. This material poses a multitude of environmental and health risks when disposed of later. This underscores the urgency of establishing alternative materials.

For this reason, Braungart is pushing for collaboration with the CLASSEN Group, whose polypropylene-based^CERAMIN® material meets all the requirements for establishing a suitable alternative to harmful PVC floor and wall coverings. Not only are products made from^CERAMIN® at least equivalent in terms of material properties such as durability, moisture resistance, design versatility, and ease of processing, but—unlike PVC—they are also completely safe for human health and the environment, fully recyclable, and consist to a high degree of recycled PP even during production. For this reason, the products also have a significantly smaller carbon footprint and reduce energy consumption many times over through the use of recycled materials in production.

Broad Alliance Aims to Phase Out PVC Use and Open Up New Markets

From the perspective of those involved, however, the goal of this strategic collaboration is not merely to establish healthy-living^{CERAMIN® flooring} in the construction and flooring industries. To this end, the CLASSEN Group will drive forward collaboration with additional market partners, with the support of Braungart EPEA. Furthermore, the goal is to forge a broad alliance that will include other companies that have consciously decided against—or are deciding against—the use of PVC applications. Braungart asserts, “A shift in thinking regarding the use of PVC is necessary. The issues must be communicated, and insights must be shared widely. Innovative solutions and alternatives, such as CLASSEN’s products, serve as an important benchmark in this regard.” He is convinced that this requires “a coalition of stakeholders who are willing to eliminate PVC from their products, services, and processes.” The focus is primarily on companies in the construction, electronics, and packaging sectors. “Since supply chains and the use of PVC are global in scope, it seems beneficial to incorporate global perspectives as well. With CLASSEN as the initiator of such a network, opportunities for new markets will open up,” concludes Braungart.

“By developing^CERAMIN® flooring, we have not only created a sustainable future for our family-owned business, but—thanks to our licensing business—we have also opened up an alternative and entirely new perspective for the entire flooring industry,” says Céline Quervel, Head of Marketing at the CLASSEN Group, outlining the future possibilities. “Collaboration with Braungart EPEA, other market partners, and environmental and consumer protection organizations is therefore a very high priority for us.”

You can download images here: https://cloud.classen.com/main.html?download&weblink=8f7d85f3354f6f05bc12e7dc8924e0d0&realfilename=Pressemitteilung$20-$20Alliance$20against$20PVC$20-$20Image.zip

About BRAUNGART EPEA – International Environmental Research GmbH:

Since its founding in Hamburg in 1987 by Prof. Dr. Michael Braungart, EPEA GmbH has evolved into an international innovation partner for environmentally sustainable products, processes, buildings, and urban neighborhoods. Our goal is to establish the Cradle to Cradle® design principle for the circular economy across all industrial sectors. In this way, we can help companies get on the right track and be part of the transformation: from the molecular to the modular level, from chemicals to cities.