WIR DENKEN UM

Rethinking – the world turns in one direction. And with our WIR-DENKEN-UM campaign, we have initiated a movement that also moves in only one direction: towards sustainability. We have already taken many steps, but in this case the route is the goal!

Onward to the goal together – In order to bring Sport Conrad forward step by step in terms of sustainability, we have founded the WIR-DENKEN-UM team, which collects all ideas from our employees and checks their feasibility. We also want to motivate other companies to pursue the topic of sustainability, for which our WIR-DENKEN-UM label has been available since summer 2019. With this label, we want to guide our customers transparently through the jungle of offers and provide a platform for suppliers who are already ticking away.

Criteria for our WIR-DENKEN-UM-Label:

Our endeavor must be to preserve what we love. Our passions – freeriding, ski touring and nature experiences – are inextricably linked to the preservation of our mountains and our nature. We want to carry this idea to the outside world and inspire others. 

> At least 50% EU-production and short ways of transportation

> At least a 50% share of recycled materials

> Renewable raw materials, no mulesing with wool

> Partner of Blue Sign and/or FairWear

> Repair service/ resoling

> PFC-free in at least 50% of the ordered products

> Traceability and transparency, such as TrackMyDown, Wool promise, Re:Down

 EOCA - European Outdoor Conservation Assotiation

EOCA is a group of businesses in the European outdoor industry who have come together to raise funds to put directly into conservation projects worldwide (except USA and Canada) - to give back to the great outdoors. In 13 years of existence, they have supported 121 projects to the tune of over € 3 million.  

We - Sport Conrad - are a member of this association and thus support nature conservation projects all over the world.

To celebrate EOCA being ten years old, the Association launched an ambitious plan to plant / regenerate 2 million trees.  Until today 2.516.276 new trees have been planted.

The latest project of the organization is called Plastic Free: Mountain to Sea.

Plastic pollution is found in mountains, around crags, along and in rivers and lakes, forests and coastlines impacting disastrously on wildlife and blighting every type of habitat and landscape enjoyed by outdoor enthusiasts.  A lot of the plastic waste will find its way to lakes and rivers and ultimately end up in the oceans where it wil degrade, releasing toxic chemicals as it does so.  100,000 marine mammals and 1 million seabirds are killed every year through entanglement or by ingesting plastic litter.

The headline target for this Focus is that EOCA and its members will collectively clear 3000 km of habitat, trail and beach of plastic waste and pollution over the next 2 years. That is the distance from the Mediterranean coast to Lapland!

LEKI - WE TAKE RESPONSIBILITY

Leki produces in Europe and recycles in Europe. They pay special attention to a sustainable recycling process. With the company SIC Processing, Leki was able to win a professional partner who has the necessary know-how and experience to disassemble used canes into their components according to type in order to return them to the recycling cycles.

RECYCLING PROCESS

The sticks are first crushed. A screening machine then filters out the steel and aluminium components. What remains are residues of carbon, plastic and cork. The metal residues are separated into aluminium and steel components by eddy current and magnetic separation. The sorting residue from the shredded carbon and the shredded plastics is separated by a multi-stage floating / sinking separation process.

FROM OLD TO NEW

ALUMINIUM ➡️ Tube

STEEL ➡️  Attachments, springs, screws

CARBON ➡️ Pipe

PLASTIC ➡️ Handles, loops, foam

At the end of this special process, an end-of-life product is transformed back into pure metals, which are used in the production of aluminium or steel by melting them down. The plastic components are used as substitute fuels, e.g. in cement works. Valuable alloying elements are produced from the carbon components, which are added to the melt during steel production.

Pebax® Rnew®

THE GREEN SECRET OF SCARPA SKI SHOES

SCARPA has been purchasing the plastic Pebax® for its ski boots from the French company Arkema for a good 25 years. From 2007 on, the new "green" Pebax® Rnew® will also be used in some SCARPA products. Whereby "green" does not mean the color, but a sustainable plastic. A "sustainable plastic"? Is that even possible? Initially, Pebax® Rnew® was used in the T2 ECO and T2 ECO Wmn telemark shoes. Soon other SCARPA ski touring models followed.

From the plant to the ski boot

But what exactly is Pebax® Rnew®? If you go back to the place where it "grows", you end up in India, for example, or more precisely in Gujarat. This is because the castor plant, or castor oil plant, grows in the middle of a very warm and dry climate. In Gujarat, the castor oil is extracted from the seeds, which is later processed in France into Pebax® Rnew® in granulate form and finally used in the manufacture of SCARPA ski touring and telemark boots.

Pebax® Rnew® - the "green" plastic with special properties

Today, the sustainable plastic is used in the two ski touring boot models Maestrale and Gea as well as in the telemark models T2Eco, T2Eco Wmn and the T1.

This biomaterial has incredible properties: it retains its flexibility at very low temperatures, is extremely shock resistant in cold weather and has excellent energy return. Moreover, it is on average 20% lighter than other commonly used products (...)

"The Pragati InitiativeIn Gujarat, is the world's largest producer of castor oil plant. In 2016, Arkema and three other partners (BASF, Jayant Agro-Organics and Solidaridad) launched the Pragati Initiative to ensure sustainable castor plant cultivation. In Hindi, Pragati means "progress". Through training and education, the farmers learn to treat the environment and natural resources with respect. By adhering to criteria in the cultivation of the land, they can obtain certificates to promote, among other things, the improvement of working conditions, wage increases and the prohibition of child and forced labor. 2700 farmers were certified by April 2019, who cultivate a total of 4000 hectares with sustainable cultivation of the Castor plant. Profits have been increased by more than 50% so far.

Völkl Cares

Sustainable skis made in Germany

As a ski manufacturer, protecting the global ecosystem is more important than ever for Völkl. Winter sports are disproportionately impacted by the growing burden on the environment and natural world, and depend on protecting the “white gold” found in the mountains. Völkl, the last remaining ski manufacturer in Germany, sees protecting the environment as its responsibility, which is why sustainability and resource efficiency are so important to this company. From the sourcing of raw materials and production to the use of the products and disposal – the company efforts to be sustainable cover the entire life cycle of the products.

Starting in the first stage in a ski’s life cycle – the sourcing and processing of raw materials – Völkl put a premium on sustainability, relying on alliances with hand-chosen local partners. The raw materials they use come from 100 % European sources. For example, the wood used to make the skis comes exclusively from European FSC- and PEFC-certified renewable sources. The suppliers recycle 100 % of the wood that cannot be used in ski production, for example to generate electricity, or give it directly to local farmers in the form of sawdust.Völkl transport the individual raw materials used in production in returnable wooden packaging without film wrapping that is reusable and sustainable. The location of the Völkl factory in Straubing, Germany, allows for short transport routes, reducing emissions of pollutants.

The “Made in Germany” quality promise means Völkl skis must meet high standards. Living up to them requires years of development, including extensive testing and optimisation of prototypes. The use of recycled and residual materials, along with misprinted surface materials, reduces waste in this stage of production. To keep prototype production to a minimum – and reduce the use of resources – Völkl also often simulate the design of a new ski only using a computer. They assess the production processes annually to identify opportunities for optimisation, there by keeping waste to a minimum without compromising on quality.

The main Völkl factory in Straubing is one of the world’s most advanced ski production plants. The German location and “Made in Germany” quality promise allow to directly control working conditions, contribute to regional value chains and support the EU economy. In the interests of clean production, Völkl has significantly reduced the use of poisonous and hazardous substances, and they have completely eliminated them from many stages of production. For example, the hazardous substance dichloromethane (DCM) is no longer used in the production process. Up to 28 % of the skis are now made from recycled or sustainably produced materials.