Particularly convinced that tomorrow’s economic system must be based on a notion of sustainability by minimizing the environmental impact of its activities, the circular economy is a priority area of work for GMI in terms of eco-design, sobriety of use, re-use, recyclability and investments in sustainable projects.
Ecodesign and recycling: two key words for the Groupe Maillard Industrie
GMI, an economic player committed to sustainable development for more than 30 years, is a real forerunner in eco-design and recycling.
The reuse of raw materials and end-of-life products has always been at the heart of GMI’s concerns, this is why our company organized itself very early to reduce the environmental impact of its activity.
As soon as the company was founded in 1981, industrial grinders were installed on site to recycle thermoformed plastic offcuts and discarded rotomolded parts.
In 2005, in order to increase the dynamism of this activity, GMI built its own recycling unit dedicated to industrial plastics, and installed it in a dedicated building at our Headquarter in Franche-Comté (France).
Today, GMI can say that all products manufactured by thermoforming in its production units are 100% recyclable and reusable in other manufacturing processes.
The company early started to analyze the life cycle of its products, from design to disposal, and has found eco-solutions. GMI is the French leader in the automotive packaging market, notably with the production of durable thermoformed trays adapted to the packaging of all the components of a vehicle. GMI offers to car manufacturers and tier1&2 suppliers a complete service: the study of their project by its R&D department, the prototypes manufacturing, the launch of serial production and the recycling of end-of-life products.
Whether for Renault, Stellantis or Volvo, all the packaging manufactured by GMI are frequently retrieved after 4 to 5 years to be grinded in its recycling unit. The recycled material is then reintegrated into the new products of these car manufacturers or into rotomolded products for the industrial market (tanks of all sizes, protective casings, etc.).
Thus, by recycling up to 2,400 tons of plastic materials each year, GMI does not generate any thermoplastic waste on its production site, and the same applies to its steel welding activity.
All the raw materials used by the group, whether steel, stainless steel, aluminum or various plastics, are consumed in the 750 different products manufactured annually by GMI and reused at the end of their life in recycling channels.
The company, by generating almost no final waste, is fully in line with the virtuous approach of the circular economy.
GMI has even anticipated the use of biosourced materials and has filed a patent to manufacture parts from a plastic and plant fiber mixture.
