Hof/Arzberg – Ecological construction is fully in line with latest trends. The use of environmentally friendly building materials on the basis of recycled materials thus gains more and more in importance. Also for outdoor use, for instance for reinforcement of parking areas, roads and lanes, the environmental compatibility of the used materials plays an increasingly important role. Therefore, well-known manufacturers of ground reinforcement systems joined together to the RAL-Gütegemeinschaft Produkte aus Recycling-Kunststoffen e. V. and launched the quality seal of the same name. “High consistent quality standards have been created and the customers can rely on their strict compliance”, said Norbert Raps, managing director of RAL, leading the association since 2014.
Only those ground reinforcement systems and erosion protection grids consisting verifiably of at least 25 % of recycled used plastics receive the RAL quality label. Moreover, they also must be recyclable at 100 %. Ground reinforcement systems with the RAL quality label are characterised by high stability and shape retention. They withstand high stresses such as steering power and shear forces on fire rescue paths and parking areas and neither deform nor break in case of high temperature fluctuations (- 20 to 80 degree centigrade). The high UV resistance is verified by the high test requirements of the automotive industry. Many criteria stipulated in the quality and test regulations which products made of recycled plastic materials must fulfill in order to get the RAL quality label go far beyond the normative and legal standards.
Grids protect nature and save costs
Ground reinforcement systems protect the soil to mechanical influences that lead to soil compaction and thus ensure a steady effective infiltration of rainwater. Cities and municipalities honor these efforts and waive resp. reduce their fees for rainwater.
Steady external and self-monitoring
In order that systems and grids permanently and reliably perform their functions, the manufacturing plants using the RAL quality label are subject to regular and strict control by independent examiners. They check whether the fixed quality requirements are fulfilled. Additionally, the manufacturers are obliged to continuous self-monitoring.
Information on RAL quality assurance
Since 1925, the German institute RAL Deutsches Institut für Gütesicherung und Kennzeichnung is responsible for granting RAL quality labels in the product and service industry. The reliable compliance of the high quality standard is ensured by a tight network of steady self and external monitoring voluntarily accepted by the manufacturers and suppliers. As an objective and neutral marking, the RAL quality labels meet the growing requirements of the consumers and stand for their protection. At the moment, approximately 130 of such associations of quality with more than 160 RAL quality labels exist.
RAL Gütegemeinschaft Produkte aus Recycling-Kunststoffen e. V.
Kulmbacher Str. 6
95460 Bad Berneck
Germany
Norbert Raps
Phone: +49 (0)9273 37800-30
n.raps@ral-recyclingkunststoffe.de