Powder coating is generally regarded as the environmentally friendly alternative to wet painting of bike frames, as no chemical solvents are released in the process. In addition, powder coatings are characterized by their high resistance and long durability against environmental impacts. However, powder coating also has a small weakness: during the powder coating of a frame, not all of the powder gets where it is supposed to go. The so-called "overspray" must be collected. In the process, frequent color changes result in powder leftovers from different colors, which are no longer usable for their original colors.
This was also noticed by one of our production employees during the daily process of the disposal of those paint leftovers. He asked himself what color would be produced if he mixed all the paint leftovers together and used them to powder a frame. So instead of disposing of them as usual, he collected them at the end of the day and tried it. The result was really impressive. This is how our sustainability color "Eco Grey" came to be. The paint leftovers produce a grey that always shimmers slightly differently in the light, depending on which color was powdered a lot on the respective day. So now, thanks to this employee's idea, we not only have one more special color, we also save a lot of waste and make better use of our resources. To be able to powder-coat one frame in Eco Grey, it takes about 10 frames that were previously powder-coated with our original colors.
Eco Grey has shown us once again how important it is to think ahead, rethink precesses and respond to the ideas of individuals - not simply disposing of leftover paint because that's what we've always done, but coming up with a creative solution to reuse these leftovers. That's what our employee did, and it really paid off.
