Circular Economy

Green Care Professional stands for the circular economy along the entire value chain, from raw materials to packaging. The materials used (cleaning chemicals and packaging) are safe for human life and nature. We guarantee their safety with product design in which all ingredients can be returned to technical and biological cycles. The electrical power required for production is obtained exclusively from renewable energy sources and the necessary process heat is generated with climate-neutral natural gas. Thanks to our in-house water treatment plant, we also ensure consistently good water quality. Werner & Mertz Professional, the company behind the brand, commits itself to social fairness and environmental justice and to conservation of biodiversity.

Life in a circular economy – The “Cradle to Cradle®” principle

“Cradle to Cradle®” describes the principle of the circular economy in which products are developed and used in cycles. At the end of the 1990s the chemist Prof. Dr. Michael Braungart and the US American architect William McDonough invented the concept, which the EPEA (Environmental Protection Encouragement Agency) in Hamburg developed further. The underlying credo “from Cradle to Cradle®” stands in contrast to the well-known linear production principle of cradle to grave. In the latter system, materials often flow from their sources to their disposal without conscious consideration given to the long-term protection of natural resources.

“Cradle to Cradle®” is based on designing products for smooth integration into biological or technical cycles. The challenge is in planning the product’s progress through a closed material cycle, that is, product materials should be suitable for a safe and complete return to the biosphere or for recovery and good quality reuse. Future products on the market should be designed in such a way that the quality of the recovered recycling fractions increases, making recycling possible at the same or a higher level. Ingredients should be selected to preclude toxic effects during use or in other phases such as manufacture, recycling and reuse. In keeping with the “Cradle to Cradle®” principle, crude oil, for instance, used one time to make plastic, remains in the cycle and is not irretrievably burned. The energy for recycling, as for other production processes, should be drawn if possible from renewable sources in an environmentally and climate-friendly fashion. A good example of this is the production of a new PET bottle from an old PET bottle.

“Cradle to Cradle®” is a registered trademark of McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry LLC. Cradle to Cradle CertifiedCM is a certification mark for certified products, exclusively sublicensed by the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute (C2CPII).

Genuine eco-effectiveness: Doing the right things right

Sustainability is often mistakenly equated with efforts made to reduce pollutants. The process, however, has to begin much earlier so that the pollutants never get into circulation. A genuine circular economy goes even further and involves doing the right things right from the start. We live according to this credo along the entire value chain. The raw materials required for production are kept in biological and technical cycles and used again and again. It starts with the use of renewable energy in the production process and our efficient in-house water treatment and goes over integrally sustainable ingredients in formulas and beyond to packaging material made of recyclates.