Enviroment
Today's playgrounds are often built in steel, aluminum and plastic for a good reason, as these raw materials have many advantages over playground materials such as plywood, which must be painted to last. Steel, aluminum and plastic are extremely durable and require almost no maintenance, and they also have several safety benefits due to their strength and durability.
Raw materials account for the majority (the number will vary) of our CO2 emissions, and therefore KOMPAN is working through innovative solutions to reduce our consumption of CO2 on raw materials by replacing them and instead using recycled materials primarily from consumer waste, which emits less CO2. We work with a two-pronged approach: Made Green and Born Green.
We also quantify CO2 emissions and the recyclable % on all our products. This information is validated by an independent third party. The calculations are part of our Product Sheets
Made Green & Born Green
Made Green
According to the EU's official statistics office (Eurostat), Denmark only recycles 23% of its plastic packaging, which is somewhat below the EU average of 38%. The plastics industry points out that better plastic recycling in Denmark will mean less CO2 emissions, less plastic waste in nature and the oceans. However, this requires new and innovative solutions.
Made Green products are made from materials with at least 51% and up to 95% recycled materials from consumer waste, such as recycled fishing nets, used textiles, food packaging, used plastic bags, etc. Discarded fishing nets can be converted into recycled plastic, which can be used, for example, in the production of our Made Green products, and in this way at least 50% less CO2 is emitted than when using completely new raw materials (virgin materials / newly manufactured materials). Recycling discarded textiles, which is a central part of our TexMade posts, is a greener alternative to steel and aluminum.
In the production of Made Green products, we work purposefully to increase the proportion of recycled materials from consumer waste, and with each generation of products the proportion increases. This means that some of our Made Green materials have a proportion of 95% consumer waste recycled material.
Born Green
The durability of wood is related to its ability to, among other things, resist attacks from wood-degrading fungi that come into contact with the ground. One way to resist the attacks is to chemically treat the wood, such as pressure-treated wood, which contains a combination of copper and biocides, and which, when burned, can develop dioxin, which is very harmful and only difficult to break down in nature (read more on the Danish Environmental Protection Agency's website - Pressure-treated wood and natural wood - Danish Environmental Protection Agency).
With the Biocidal Product Regulation (2014), the EU has set some strict rules for what chemicals can be used to protect products against pests such as pests, bacteria, fungi and other unwanted organisms. All active substances / chemicals used for impregnation of wood must be approved and listed on the Article 95 list (read more on the Danish Environmental Protection Agency's website - The Biocidal Product Regulation in Brief - Danish Environmental Protection Agency).
KOMPAN has chosen to take a different approach, looking instead at which types of wood have natural protection against attack by pests and against biological degradation – types of wood that are Born Green and do not need to be treated with biocides. Born Green means that our products are made from natural hardwood such as Robinia wood, which has a very high heartwood content and dense structure as well as a natural content of preservatives. Robinia wood is fast-growing compared to other hard woods such as Oak and Teak, and it is one of the most widespread hardwood species in Southern and Eastern Europe. Robinia wood is also very durable, and without treatment with wood preservative it can last for 20 years or more according to DS/EN 350-2, which is the lifespan of untreated heartwood in soil. Untreated wood such as Robinia wood has very low CO2 consumption.
