As a family-owned company with a strong sense of responsibility deeply rooted in its DNA, it is of great importance to the connection specialists at LAPP to leave a healthy planet for future generations. Based on this sustainability concept, the Stuttgart-based company has already developed a number of products, projects and ideas: These include the world's first portfolio of lead-free brass cable glands from the LAPP brand SKINTOP, the ETHERLINE FD bioP Cat.5e data cable from LAPP with a partially bio-based sheathing material, but also the calculation of the Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) of the LAPP portfolio or the use of sustainable packaging materials in the LAPP logistics centers.

Great interest in sustainable solutions

But LAPP does not want to stop there: the Swabians recently presented the prototypes of two plug-in connections from the LAPP brand EPIC. “There is a great deal of interest in sustainable solutions, which we have clearly seen at recent trade fairs with our more sustainable data cable,” says Alexander Denk, Vice President Business Unit EPIC. ”We are building on this and presenting an organic variant of the plug-in connector housings for the EPIC H-A 3 and the EPIC H-Q TG.”

Same technical properties as fossil fuel versions

With the futureLAB used at trade fairs and exhibitions, LAPP not only provides insights into future ideas and technology trends, but interested parties can also talk to LAPP experts about the more sustainable plug connections. “What is special about the more sustainable versions is that they have exactly the same technical properties as our conventional plug connections,” says Alexander Denk. This makes them equally suitable for all applications, machines and industries in which they are otherwise used. In addition to automation, this also includes the field of robotics. However, the right material first had to be found for this. This was a challenge, because the variety of bioplastics is still limited.

Equivalent to the classic variants in economic terms too

“When making our selection, it was important to us that a more sustainable version is also economical,” says Alexander Denk. ‘Because we have found a bio-plastic that exhibits the same shrinkage during production as the fossil variant, we can use the same tools in our production process to manufacture the connectors.’ In addition, the connector housings are often exposed to strong environmental influences during use. It was therefore necessary for the more sustainable variants to undergo the same ageing and UV tests. The encouraging result: here, too, there are no differences between the fossil and bio-based variants. The more sustainable variants of the two connectors are made of a bio-plastic based on corn starch and have 35 percent less carbon bound than their conventional plastic counterparts.

Wide range of applications

The EPIC H-A 3 bio-based is a standard plug-in connection for a wide range of industries (e.g. mechanical engineering, renewable energies, food production, agriculture). With the smallest housing of all LAPP industrial plug-in connections, it is designed to guarantee a completely secure connection in the smallest of spaces and to be compatible with all inserts. The EPIC H-Q TG bio-based, on the other hand, is a compact and robust plug connection for powering electric motors and servo drives. Its compact design ensures a high contact density for a wide range of power and signal transmission applications. Both connector housings are free of red phosphorus and halogen.

SKINTOP and EPIC: sustainable portfolio continues to grow

In addition to the housings, the inserts are also part of a complete connector. However, they present the developers at LAPP with additional challenges, because they have to fulfill the electrical properties of their fossil-based sisters to an equal extent – including for the necessary certifications. “This challenge is next for us,” says Alexander Denk about the upcoming steps. At the same time, LAPP is developing bio-based versions of its SKINTOP cable glands with SKINTOP BIO. Up to 90 percent bio-based materials can be used here.

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