As PFAS substances might be more strictly regulated in future, more and more companies in the manufacturing industry are already looking for product solutions that do not use this controversial group of chemicals. To offer customers a safe and transparent solution for telescopic rails, igus has developed a new version of the drylin NT-60 – a telescopic rail made of aluminium whose plain bearing material does without PTFE and around 100 other PFAS compounds. The sliding elements feature installation sizes 35 and now also 60, and are used in a PTFE-free and PFAS-tested telescopic rail system. It can be continuously extended to a maximum of 2m and is found in vehicles, furniture and medical technology, among others.
The renowned Belgian brewery Chimay, known for its traditional Trappist beer, relies on maintenance-free spherical bearings from igus in its bottling plant. By replacing rusty, seized ball bearings with lubrication-free igubal H3 bearing inserts, the brewery was able to increase efficiency and reduce maintenance.
Every year, several million tonnes of plastic end up in the oceans. Around 1,600 rivers wash most of it into the sea. Plastic waste destroys marine ecosystems and contributes to the loss of biodiversity. To prevent it from spreading uncontrollably in the water and turning into microplastics, the start-up Plastic Fischer collects plastic waste from rivers in India and Indonesia – with the support of the Cologne-based plastics specialist igus, among others.
