The real-world laboratory of the Cradle to Cradle NGO in Berlin has carried out the world's first comprehensive refurbishment of an existing building according to Cradle to Cradle criteria. ZINQ galvanised the steel facade using its C2C-certified brand product microZINQ, thereby protecting it reliably against corrosion. The C2C facade was officially unveiled at the summer reception.

For more than ten years, ZINQ has been operating in accordance with the five criteria of Cradle to Cradle® (C2C) in order to close material loops for products and processes and to recycle the raw materials and products used. All batch hot-dip galvanising finishes by ZINQ are therefore Cradle to Cradle certified, and are developed and manufactured in such a way that, as materially healthy products, they can be used fully and repeatedly in biological and technical cycles for the production of new finishes.

„The facade of the real-world laboratory made from our hot-dip galvanised steel is living proof of how Cradle to Cradle works. The framework featuring our C2C-certified micro-zinc alloy can be unscrewed and bolted back on at any time and is 100 percent recyclable,“ says Sven Biebler, Group Director of ZINQ Germany. In the coming weeks, various circular and material-healthy facade building materials such as clay tiles, ceramic and glass tiles, or wooden elements will be installed on the facade.

„That we are able to add a façade to our C2C LAB with the support of partners like ZINQ is tremendously important. Together, we are demonstrating which Cradle to Cradle solutions are already available on the market today and can be easily implemented,“ said Nora Sophie Griefahn, Executive Director of the C2C NGO.

Tim Janßen, Managing Director of the C2C NGO, added: „With a great deal of dedication in the planning and implementation of this project, ZINQ has created a showcase where we will be able to present many more C2C façade solutions in the future.“

New campaign: Secure your share of facade scaffolding now

With the facade project, the NGO is demonstrating how circular business models help to close the loops of C2C materials and enable new forms of financing for C2C projects. Through a campaign, the C2C NGO is now providing an impetus for how C2C products or projects can be financed in the future: supporters of Cradle to Cradle can now secure a share of the facade scaffolding with an assigned value of 50,000 euros, thereby investing in a material-healthy and circular product.

The campaign and the facade were presented at this year's summer reception of the C2C NGO, to which ZINQ was also invited as a regular dialogue partner. Every year, key players from politics, business, science, society and volunteering meet at the C2C LAB in Berlin for discussion and networking.

Climate and resource policy as a single entity

Jennifer Morgan, State Secretary and Special Envoy for International Climate Action at the Federal Foreign Office, kicked off the content at the summer reception and emphasised in her welcoming address that it is essential to understand climate and resource policy as a single entity. „It is not enough to reduce energy consumption; we also have to turn the raw materials screw.“ She noted that mutual dependencies and connections are still far too often underestimated and therefore not addressed together – in international climate policy, but also at the federal level. “We must make much greater use of the circular economy to secure the raw materials supply for the German economy,” Morgan continued. For this to happen, she added, topics such as the circular economy and Cradle to Cradle must be communicated even more strongly and effectively. Civil society organisations play a key role in this, according to Morgan.