Cradle to cradle

C2C is a leading multi-attribute, multi-industry science-based standard for verifying products for the circular economy with integration of beneficial Environment, Social and Governance features.  The aim of the certification is to improve the quality of products and their related processes so that they have a better and positive impact on environment, users and people. 

Quality enhancement is achieved by focusing on three innovation principles:  

• Everything is designed to be a nutrient for something else (Waste = Food).
• Use renewable energy produced from current solar income. 
• Support diversity including conceptual, cultural and biodiversity. 

In the C2C principles, products are made from known components that are easy to disassemble, in order to create new products (a process called “up-cycling”) in both the biological and technical cycles. 

C2C embraces the concept of circular economy: it has a special focus on value creation from recycled and secondary materials. 
C2C covers many aspects of a products’ manufacturing process: not only the materials themselves but also the people and processes behind the manufacturing. That is why it is a challenging, demanding but also powerful standard. 

The philosophy behind C2C is to improve products to make them “less bad” (eco-effectiveness and cradle-to-grave approach) to “good” (eco-efficiency and cradle-to-cradle approach). This covers products for the B&C sector of course but for all other sectors as well (fashion, home supplies, furniture…). Today, the certifying institute is Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute (C2C PII). 

Sustainability has always played a key role at WICONA. At the beginning of 2017, WICONA system solutions were awarded the Bronze Cradle to Cradle (C2C) Certificate. Since then, WICONA has continually worked to further improve the production standards to achieve the next level. That has now been achieved.