Global Recycling Day: Hansgrohe Group Sets Recycling Standards With Gray Water, Heat, Packaging and Production Materials

With new solutions for water, packaging and plastics, the Hansgrohe Group is taking a further step towards a sustainable circular economy. As an innovation and marketing accelerator, it relies on start-up commitments and cooperation with innovative technology partners.

Gray Water Recycling with Hydraloop

In collaboration with the Dutch WaterTech company Hydraloop, Hansgrohe presents a modern graywater recycling system at the ISH 2025 trade fair. The Hydraloop systems use cutting-edge technology with an IoT connection to efficiently treat wastewater from showers, washing machines and air conditioning systems – known as grey water – for reuse. The compact system produces high-quality recycled water for non-drinking water applications, such as toilet flushing and garden irrigation. It is particularly suitable for commercial, public or semi-public buildings such as hotels, authorities or office complexes.

Water-saving solutions are particularly effective in such buildings due to the higher water consumption. In addition, it is precisely in these building segments that there are more and more requirements for sustainable, certified construction.

Heat Recovery During Showering

Hansgrohe is also developing innovative and user-friendly solutions for heat recovery in showers. This involves systems that are easy to retrofit, as well as technology for the renovation and new construction of showers and bathrooms. The functional principle is based on that of a heat exchanger: the warm shower water that flows out is used to heat further cold water for showering.

Showers in a Closed Loop

Another product concept being researched by the Hansgrohe InnoLab team aims to exploit the potential of circular water use: in the circular shower concept, the used shower water is cleaned, reheated and reused in the cycle. Even if the regulations in many countries do not currently provide for treated water for showers, the requirements could change in future in view of the shortage of fresh water. A technically mature and safe technology could then be a welcome solution in the respective market.

Switching to Paper Packaging

Goodbye plastic: Hansgrohe is switching all new product packaging worldwide to paper alternatives by the end of 2025. The cardboard packaging used is fully recyclable and reduces plastic waste. Smaller and more space-saving packaging variations have a positive impact on transport and storage logistics. Paper is particularly sustainable as it can be recycled up to 25 times, thus enjoying a high recycling rate within Europe.

Recycling of Galvanized Plastics

At the Offenburg/Elgersweier production site, Hansgrohe has been operating a globally unique recycling machine for chrome-plated plastic components since mid-2024. By means of electro- hydraulic shredding and subsequent magnetic separation, ABS plastics are freed from their chrome layer and reused directly in production. In this way, around 100 tons of plastic can be recycled every year and used for – in purely mathematical terms – one million new hand-held showers.

One example of this is the award-winning Pulsify Planet Edition hand-held shower, which consists largely of recycled plastic. The innovative recyclites have a purity of 99.8 percent and are obtained using an environmentally friendly process that does not use any chemicals or other harmful substances. With these measures, Hansgrohe is strengthening its green transformation and closing material cycles for a more sustainable future. Further circular economy projects are in the pipeline. “Particularly in the area of WaterTech, we feel challenged to achieve even more water and energy savings. Our goal is to provide our customers with relaxed moments of well-being, without a guilty conscience towards the environment,” says Hans Jürgen Kalmbach, Chairman of the Executive Board of Hansgrohe SE.