Building a circular economy with sustainable lighting solutions
Schréder's commitment to circularity goes beyond adopting new practices. It represents a bold, transformative approach to sustainability, changing the way we think about products, systems and industries. Through this, we extend product life, preserve resources and provide innovative solutions, while staying firmly grounded in circularity and taking conscious action to reduce CO₂ emissions and pollution.
Extending product lifespan
through longevity and modularity
Preserving resources
with sustainable materials
Reducing environmental impact
for customers and communities
Extending product lifespan through longevity and modularity
We prioritise designing products to last, with robust, modular, repairable and upgradeable features. This approach moves beyond the traditional 'take-make-dispose' model, reducing waste and ensuring that our products continue to provide value long after their initial use.
Robust and certified, upgradable and repairable
Throughout our history, we have engineered our products to last. Every factor, from water and dust to impacts, vibrations, heat and wind, is tested to ensure that our luminaires can withstand the harshest conditions and have the longest possible lifetime.
Our streetlight components are also designed for modularity: parts can be easily replaced or upgraded. We have created a “common gear compartment”, which uses the same base plate across a wide range of luminaires to make maintenance easier.
Retrofit solutions for an extended life
Many fixtures installed over a decade ago have now become outdated in terms of electronics or lighting performance. However, their structural components, such as the housing, are often in excellent condition, providing a unique opportunity to extend their lifespan.
We also recover and restore existing luminaires to near-new condition, and upgrade their lighting technology.
Retrofit lighting projects
Find out how our retrofit solutions are helping customers to extend the lifetime of their lighting infrastructure.
Preserving resources with sustainable materials
Schréder is committed to maximising the use of sustainable materials in product manufacturing. This involves ensuring that materials are responsibly sourced and recycled or reused wherever possible.
Rethinking raw materials
The materials we choose to manufacture our luminaires play a crucial role in reducing our environmental impact. Our luminaires are made up of many components, including aluminium, glass, composites and plastics. Each component is carefully selected for its durability, performance, energy efficiency and recyclability.
Biobased plastics
Unlike conventional plastics, which are derived from fossil fuels, biopolymers are derived from renewable sources such as corn, sugar cane or cellulose. These materials significantly reduce GHG emissions and support a more sustainable production cycle.
Read about our bio-based alternatives and digital twins to optimise our product designs
Recycling programmes for a sustainable future
We are extending our recycling programme beyond Europe, where the WEEE directive makes this process mandatory and transparent. In Australia, we have developed our own luminaire recycling process in partnership with Sims Metal. Participants receive a certificate showing the collection results and the social impact of their contribution, helping to promote transparency and accountability.
Reducing environmental impact for customers and communities
We are constantly rethinking our solutions and practices to minimise our ecological footprint, as well as that of our customers. We assess the environmental impact of our product ranges throughout their lifetimes and provide our customers with full transparency regarding this information.
A robust Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) process for accuracy and transparency
To enhance transparency, we provide our customers with Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) on request. These documents offer a reliable overview of the environmental impact of our lighting solutions.
Circle Light Label: our circularity assessment
As part of our ongoing mission to develop products with the lowest possible environmental impact, we have integrated circularity principles into the design of our luminaires. We have created the Circle Light Label, which enables us to assess the circularity of our products and give them a score based on 12 objective criteria in 5 categories. It provides insights so that our customers can develop a more circular approach.
Reducing waste, optimising packaging
Proper waste management and sustainable packaging must be at the heart of all industrial organisation’s processes. At Schréder, around 90% of our non-hazardous waste is collected for recycling. We evaluate each stage of the packaging lifecycle to identify areas where we can eliminate unnecessary materials and use more sustainable alternatives while maintaining high standards of protection.
Eliminating single-use plastics from our packaging processes
Removing plastic foil from the packaging of two product families has led to significant environmental benefits.
This will be extended to other product families in the future to achieve further reductions.
183,600 plastic sheets
removed from packaging
5.7 tonnes
LDPE plastic waste avoided
14 tonnes
CO₂ emissions avoided
