TechnoAlpin Backs A Circular Economy: High Product Quality And Clever Solutions

At the beginning of November, TechnoAlpin published its first sustainability report. It names six key topics that are at the heart of the sustainability strategy until 2025. One of these topics is the circular economy and the effort to integrate the circular approach into all areas.

TechnoAlpin has always placed great value on excellent quality and longevity of its products. Ultimately, the conditions in the mountains place special demands on the materials used. Products from the early 90s are still in use today and are usually replaced for efficiency reasons.

The goal for the next few years is to increase the proportion of recycled and reusable materials in product development.

The most gentle resource is always the one that is not needed in the first place. That's why TechnoAlpin relies on standardization, slim standard versions and well-thought-out solutions for the latest generation of snow guns. In the current models, the compressor and turbine are driven by just one motor. The 4 newest models (TT10, TR10, TT9 and TR9) consist of 90% identical components. A uniform lance tube was developed for the TL series.

In addition, old lance heads are replaced and recycled. The lance structure is reused. In this way, the efficiency of the system can be significantly increased with minimal intervention.

SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING SOLUTIONS AND HIGH REPAIR RATES

In addition to pure product development, numerous measures have been taken in recent years to minimize the use of resources throughout the entire value chain as much as possible.

In order to reduce single-use packaging as much as possible, TechnoAlpin has developed a sophisticated system of reusable packaging. Individual solutions were developed for individual components in order to reduce cardboard and plastic packaging as much as possible. This made it possible to reduce the waste volume in relation to the increased production figures. Any waste generated is recycled as much as possible.

TechnoAlpin's sustainability is reflected not only in new products, but also in how it deals with repairs. The repair and overhaul department ensures the professional repair and overhaul of snow guns, pumps, compressors, valves or individual components. Around 60% of the snow guns received are repaired or overhauled and put back into circulation. Around 95% of the remaining components (pumps, compressors, valves or individual components) were repaired internally or sent back to the manufacturers for repair.

If overhauling a model no longer makes sense, all usable components are removed. They are offered on the used market as replacement parts for older models. The high quality of the products ensures a long service life, so that even snow guns from the 1990s still work perfectly. For some applications, older generation snow guns are completely sufficient.