Environment & Sustainability

We assume responsibility

Maschinenfabrik Liezen und Gießerei is very concerned about using energy in a responsible way and about further increasing the internal awareness of this issue.  

MFL Environment & Energy Policy

Maschinenfabrik Liezen und Gießerei Ges.m.b.H. feels that it is important to deal with energy, resources and our environment in a responsible manner while undertaking o­ur activities­. To this end, we place an emphasis on open dialogue on issues relating to environmental protection, and strive to awaken and strengthen the environmental awareness of our employees, suppliers and customers.

For us, economic success and environmentally conscious, resource-conserving actions are inextricably linked, and we therefore believe that a successful and sustainable existence of the company can only be ensured if economic, ecological and social factors are taken into account equally.

Therefore, Maschinenfabrik Liezen und Gießerei Ges.m.b.H. has set itself the goals of:

  • reducing the ­ temperature increase, and thus limiting climate change, by reducing the emission of specific greenhouse gases.
  • reducing specific energy consumption in the long term and increasing energy efficiency by means of a­ continuous improvement process.
  • improving transparency with regard to energy consumption and operational energy flows.
  • keeping environmental pollution resulting from business activities as low as possible or, if possible, completely eliminating it.
  • complying with all applicable environmental and energy-related regulations.
  • considering and evaluating the effects of new technologies, processes and products upon the environment prior to their introduction.

Senior management is responsible for the environmental and energy management system and commits, from the point of view of business efficiency, to pursue these goals and to continuously improve the management system. In order to achieve this, the cooperation of all employees across all levels of the company is both expected and actively encouraged through the provision of the necessary resources. All employees are also encouraged to make suggestions on the subject of environmental protection in the workplace; the management will be happy to take up these suggestions and acknowledge them where appropriate.

This environmental and energy policy will be revi­ewed in the annual Management Review, and improved upon if deemed necessary.

 

 

 

We have set ourselves ambitious objectives

 

 

 

MFL Projects for environmental protection & sustainability

Video-Project Vision 2045

Drastic energy savings, heat recovery, thermal refurbishment & Co.:The comprehensive climate and environmental protection measures of Maschinenfabrik Liezen and Gießerei are attracting attention far beyond the country's borders. At the invitation of the organisers of the UN climate project "Vision 2045" with participation in the World Climate Summit 2022, a video project on the company's own ecology programme was implemented.

Vision 2045

In 2045, the United Nations will celebrate its 100th anniversary and the UN Global Compact will also be almost half a century old. From issues such as sustainability and climate change to population growth and technological and medical advances, the UN's core principles will continue to help steer our society in a more livable direction in the decades to come.

In doing so, Vision 2045 will bring to life the stories of a number of leading companies by showcasing their work and actions on sustainability and exploring what these organisations are actively contributing to change. The aim of the initiative is to inspire and motivate other organisations around the world to become actively involved in creating a better and fairer society for all. In particular, MFL's contribution is to show industrial companies that the industry has the potential to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

Vision Logo

Energy Management System - ISO 50001

The MFL energy management system was certified in March 2013. The system contributes to protect the climate and to conserve energy resources.

view certificate

Energy Saving Projects 2014

Tabelle

Environment Management System - ISO 14001

The MFL Environment Management System was certified In March 2021. This system helps us to pursue even more ambitious objectives and to ensure reliable manufacturing processes.

Numerous environmental projects are lived by and continuously refined at MFL.

View certificate

Table

Product recycling: Responsible use of raw materials

To produce high-temperature-resistant stainless-steel castings valuable metals such as chromium, nickel, molybdenum, and many others are required. In the future, the extraction of these raw materials will become more difficult, more expensive, and more restricted due to limited resources. Therefore, the recycling of used and worn products made of these valuable materials is essential for economic and ecological reasons.

MFL is deliberately relying on recycling

By melting down worn cast products from our manufacturing we produce premium-quality stainless-steel castings that are as good as new. Thus, the recycling rate for these products may amount to up to 100 %.

Gussteil-Roststab-Schrott wird komplett eingeschmolzen
  
Neues Gussteil-Roststab Produkt

Eco-innovation partner for the users of castings

Optimising the topology as well as using 3D printing technology can result in massive savings of both energy and resources in manufacturing and deploying castings. This means a substantial contribution to reach the climate objectives.

The impact on the environment

Using weight-reduced components is particularly effective for our clients in the field mobility, e.g., in rail traffic. Reducing the total weight of trains has various positive effects on the environment: lower consumption of operating power, reduced wear of the rail profiles (material wear, durability), less noise for passengers as well as man and beast along the railway lines.

Spring caps as an example

In the innovation project “InnoUp“ promoted by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG), the use and the networking of digital technologies for the application-oriented component-optimisation of castings was researched together with the Austrian Foundry Institute (OGI) and another 18 partners in Austria using the example of “spring caps” for rail bogies.

castings

EU Project MORSE: Efficient Use of Resources & Energy

As a major industry partner MFL Foundry participated in the EU research project MORSE (model-based optimisation for efficient use of resources and energy) with the special focus on steel production for steel foundries from 2017 to 2022.

It is the vision of MORSE to develop and apply software control tools for the integrated optimisation of the whole production process chain to minimise the use of resources required to produce premium products while increasing the high quality and production rates.

Especially in the smelting plant of the foundry we profit from the project results: With this newly developed software solution all process parameters can be monitored and readjusted any time in case of deviations.

This enables us to optimise the use of raw materials and energy by coordinated prediction and control of resource input and product quality along the entire production process. Special attention is paid to the efficient use of costly alloys and scrap materials as well as the economic input of electricity and gas.

MORSE Project

Pre-heating furnace for castings

Europäische Union - Investitionen in Wachstum & Beschäftigung. Österreich
This project is being co-financed by the European Fund for Regional Development with a contribution of € 18,656.00. For further information, please consult the website www.efre.gv.at

To allow for the welding of castings they need to be heated from the prevailing ambient temperature to a temperature of 150°C to 400°C, depending on the alloy. In the past this was carried out by natural gas burners in an open “pre-heating space”.

The environmental impact results from the noticeably reduced radiation losses, as the energy is precisely used for the castings. Based on the potential analysis it can be deducted that the annual energy consumption may be reduced by 711.28 MWh thanks to the actions mentioned above. This means that every year some 137 tons of climate-relevant CO2 emissions can be avoided.

Recycling of moulding sand 

To manufacture castings our moulding material consisting mainly of quartz sand is mixed with a binding agent and various other additives so that it can be used to manufacture the foundry moulds. In most foundries this moulding sand is disposed of and stockpiled after the castings have been produced.

Only a few companies are, like us, able to process the moulding sand in such a way that it can be reused for the manufacturing of castings. MFL manages to completely recycle about 70 to 80 % of the moulding material after its use.

For this purpose, undesirable components such as remains of the binding agent, metallic contents, and dust are removed. Afterwards, the raw quartz sand is again mixed with a binding agent so that new foundry moulds can be manufactured again. Due to this process, every single grain of sand is actually recycled many times, until it is crushed so much due to mechanical and thermal strain that it is separated as dust.

The environmental effect:
Considerably reducing the demand for new quartz sand and producing no special waste for stockpiles.

Elektro-Lichtbogen-Ofen

Heat recovery

Europäische Union - Investitionen in Wachstum & Beschäftigung. Österreich
This project is being co-financed by the European Fund for Regional Development with a contribution of € 144,932. For further information, please consult the website www.efre.gv.at

To be able to feed valuable waste heat energy into the heating cycle again the project “Heat Recovery” was started.

In four gas-powered heat treatment furnaces of the Foundry castings are heated up to 1,000°C. At full power, the waste heat energy generated per year comes to 2,000 MWh. To recover this heat a new heating pipe from the heat treatment to the powerhouse, a new connecting pipe between powerhouse and the Liezen District Heating, and four new heat recovery systems (heat exchangers) are being installed. Despite great technological challenges, these systems can be adapted in such a way that the expected savings potential mentioned below can be reached.

Due to a co-operation with the Liezen District Heating, we can either use the generated heat directly on our premises for heating purposes or supply surplus heat directly to the district heating system (especially in summer).

Environmental efffect
Based on the potential analysis it may be deducted that thanks to the steps described above the following results are to be expected: an annual reduction of energy consumption to the amount of 2,339.51 MWh as well as the utilisation of 720 MWh of waste heat by the Liezen District Heating. This means that some 648.45 tons of climate-relevant CO2 emissions per year can be saved.

Gluehofen

Hall Renovation - Government-awarded Climate Project

In the course of the climate protection programme klima:aktiv "energy-efficient companies", MFL makes a major contribution to reduce CO2 emissions.

Thermal Renovation of Buildings

A side hall of the paint shop dating from the 1980s was completely thermally renovated. The roof was improved by a foil roof thus reaching a thermal transmittance value (U-value) of 0.25 W/m²K. A new front panel for the exterior wall further improved the thermal transmittance value (U-value) to 0.27 W/m²K. Additionally, windows with insulating glass (thermal transmittance value 1.1 W/m²K) and new high-speed gates (thermal transmittance value 0.25W/m²K) were mounted.

Enclosure for Electric Arc Furnaces

To ensure a better extraction of emissions in the foundry two arc furnaces were provided with an enclosure. Due to this measurement, the dust extraction can take place nearer to the source of emissions which makes it considerably more effective

A filter system separates the pollution particles from the air which is then directed in a clean condition to the outside via a collector pipe in the roof.

Elektro-Lichtbogen-Ofen