Quality and durability – two requirements in the construction industry that Lindner represents for more than 55 years. In the wake of the climate crisis and advancing environmental pollution, the topics of sustainability and the circular economy have also become increasingly important in the construction industry. Lindner is also a pioneer in this area: Sustainability and environmental protection have been firmly established in our corporate culture since 1993: From being a founding member of the DGNB and drawing up our first own life cycle assessment in 2011 to the development of recyclable system products with corresponding Cradle to Cradle Certified® awards and detailed environmental product declarations as the basis for green buildings.
The building industry is considered to be the most resource and waste-intensive sector of the economy: Around 50 % of all waste and 40 % of CO2 emissions in the European Union were in 2019 related to the construction sector – compounded by the intensifying prevailing shortage of raw materials. These are alarming figures call for action: Any solution for the problem? Circular Building! And: Instead of demolition and new construction, the focus is now on reconstruction and renovation, including selective deconstruction. Only in this way can we improve our CO2 balance, use our resources more efficiently and also counteract the waste of raw materials.
That was our first thought while developing our product range into ReUsed Products. ReUsed stands for building materials or products that are designed from beginning to be kept in closed cycles as far as possible – and can ideally be used in a 1:1 reuse. In the same way, we also offer to take back used products, such as our calcium sulphate floor panels, in the sense of reuse. These are then processed in our factory and resold as used products of equal value. In the same way, we take care of the professional disposal or recycling at the end of the use phase.
With the help of circular construction, products and resources are oranised in intelligently planned, closed cycles. This means that reuse or sensible recycling is already considered when designing the system products. Thus, at the end of their utilization phase, the products can be dismantled into their components or recycled as complete components. This principle is supported by the Lindner modular system: Our system products for ceilings, floors and walls are perfectly matched to each other, are as modular as possible and can be easily dismantled.
In terms of the circular economy, materials and recyclables are kept in a cycle. For this purpose, we distinguish between different paths of circularity:
Using buildings as a source of materials and raw materials? With the urban mining concept, the entire stock of durable goods in our environment is considered as secondary raw materials – because every year, around 517 million tonnes of mineral raw materials are used in our environment. By using these secondary raw materials, the limited natural resources of our earth can be conserved: This is the only way we can counteract the worsening scarcity of resources. Information about the materials and raw materials used can be found in Material- and Product Databases such as Madaster: New digital technologies such as cadastres and material passports record and document the components used in buildings so that they can be reused after the usage phase or after conversions and demolitions.
An overview of Lindner's recyclable products, including planning aids, can be found in our 360-Degree-Tour
