The switch to circular
Wiring Accessories
The switch
to circular
Billions of switches and sockets are installed worldwide every year, almost all from virgin plastics. Hager’s new wiring accessories system challenges that default.
Every building has them: switches by the door and along the corridor wall or sockets behind the desk. Wiring accessories are the most-touched, most-visible electrical components in any space. Yet for decades, the industry has produced them the same way: from virgin plastics, packed in plastic, without questioning the environmental cost of components installed by the billion.
Management Summary
The challenge: wiring accessories are produced and installed by the billion, almost exclusively from virgin plastics. Their cumulative environmental footprint is significant yet largely unaddressed.
The approach: a new wiring accessories system using 50% post-consumer recycled plastics, Cradle to Cradle Certified® Full Scope at the Bronze level according to version 4.1, plastic-free recycled packaging, and native smart-building connectivity, delivered at no price increase.
The impact: up to 1.793 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent saved over five years, harmful substances restricted by design, and circular materials made the accessible default for specifiers and installers.
Circular by design
Hager’s new wiring accessories system, built on a unified 55 × 55 mm platform across four design lines, uses 50% post-consumer recycled plastics in all visible components. “The components people interact with every day are now part of a circular economy. That was the ambition from the very beginning,” explains François Vanhoutte, Programme Manager at Hager.
A large share of the system is C2C Certified® Full Scope at the Bronze level according to version 4.1. This means, for example, that harmful substances including PFAS, PVC, and halogenated flame retardants are restricted in use. All packaging uses recycled cardboard and paper only, eliminating plastic entirely. “We rethought the product and everything around it. Better materials, better methods, better impact across the whole lifecycle,” adds François Vanhoutte.
When the better choice costs the same as the conventional one, even for the most accessible products, there is no reason left not to make the leap. That is how you shift an entire industry and genuinely reduce environmental impacts.
By the numbers
post-consumer recycled plastics in all visible components2
projected savings over 5 years
vs. previous standard range
plastic in packaging
on one unified 55×55 mm platform
From sustainable to smart
Better materials reduce environmental impact. Intelligent connectivity multiplies the effect. With native Matter capability and Samsung SmartThings certification, the system integrates directly into smart building environments, enabling automation of lighting, shading, and control of any other Matter device from the wall. KNX Secure touch sensors extend the range into professional building management, linking every switch point to the distribution board. The result is a wiring accessories system that addresses both the material footprint and the operational efficiency of a building in a single, unified platform.
Proof at scale
Over the first five years of production, the new system is projected to save up to 1.793 tonnes of CO₂1 equivalent through the use of post-consumer recycled polycarbonate, compared to virgin plastics. The range comes at no additional cost compared to the previous standard portfolio. Circularity scales without a price barrier, making sustainable specification the path of least resistance. “When the better choice costs the same as the conventional one, even for the most accessible products, there is no reason left not to make the leap. That is how you shift an entire industry and genuinely reduce environmental impacts,” says François Vanhoutte.
Wiring accessories will be installed in buildings that stand for decades. The material they are made from was always going to matter. Now it does.
Estimate based on lifecycle comparison between virgin and post-consumer recycled polycarbonate and expected production volumes.
According Environmental Claim Validation Procedure (ECVP) for Recycled Content, UL ECVP 2809-2.