Green product development at AGRO – the NEXT step

The German-based AGRO International, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of innersprings for the mattress and upholstery industry, is tackling the future. In other words: Sustainable thinking and circular economy will shape the product range of the family-owned company even more than they have already done in the past.

So far, AGRO’s green product line has offered two very different options for the development of C2C ready mattresses: The classic Bonnell innerspring at the one hand has been a circular product from the very beginning. The pocket innerspring solution A.NEXT Uni – Pocket PES at the other hand has been an awarded state-of-the-art development with one revolutionary change: With both fabric and adhesive being based on the same material (polyester), they can – after being separated from the wire – be melted and reused without further separation. The world’s first fully C2C ready pocket innerspring is perfectly suited to produce C2C ready mattresses when being combined with polyester based upholstering material only.

This development has been a milestone in innerspring development. And now it is followed by the next important steps. Recently AGRO’s green portfolio has been complemented by another two innovative circular pocket innerspring solutions. They adhere to the same “Uni” principle as the PES version, but fabric and adhesive are based on Polypropylene (PP).

A.NEXT Uni – Pocket PP is the solution based on “conventional” PP fabric, combined with an innovative bran

d new PP adhesive that has been developed in cooperation with an expert over the last two years. It is another green milestone in the sleep sector as it impresses with superior quality but comes with low extra costs at the same time. Therefore it is a circular technology suited for the high-volume market as well.

A.NEXT Arise in contrast is the first pocket innerspring coming with already recycled nonwoven. This product reflects what people have in mind when talking about circularity: it uses materials in another lifecycle and allows for saving resources and reducing CO2 emissions enormously in comparison to well known solutions.

Whether based on PES or PP, whether “conventional” material or already recycled one: All green AGRO solutions have two aspects in common: They offer a significant step forward from the ecological perspective – and still meet the highest demands in comfort and AGRO quality.

In the near future, AGRO will take another important step by developing the whole product portfolio into circular innersprings. AGRO’s CEO Dominik Meyer explains: “Being a pioneer with 20 years of experience in the recycling of innersprings, we have worked towards this goal for a long time. Due to their recyclability, innersprings are perfectly suited for developing sustainable sleeping comfort – we have optimized the details. The sleep industry will have to eliminate a major disposal and resource problem by developing circular mattresses. We want to set an example – and motivate our customers to take the step towards a circular economy together with us. If they would like to use PES based material or PP based one – at AGRO they have the choice.”

More information: next.agro.eu