MediaInfo Pioneering recycling at Banner Linz-Leonding, 18th June 2015. Today, more than ever, the focus of automotive manufacturers is on “green” drive technologies and with its batteries for modern vehicles, Banner is contributing significantly to a reduction in CO2 emissions and fuel consumption. Moreover, a well-established recycling system with the highest recovery quota of all the recyclable goods on the market makes the lead battery a model resource-protective and sustainable product.
“Green” drive technologies colour the automotive industry. In view of the consequences of global warming and the increasing indications of fossil fuel shortages, European policy makers have passed binding legislation with regard to automotive manufacturers, which stipulates an obligatory reduction in the emissions from the continent’s vehicle fleet. In 2015, fleet consumption divided among all newly manufactured vehicles has to be below 130 g/km and by 2020 must fall further to 95 g/km.
In order to meet these targets, the car industry has responded with measures that include the use of so-called micro-hybrid drive systems. A major contribution in this regard is also being made by battery technologies as part of the combination of optimised internal combustion engines with a start/stop function and to some extent the recovery of braking energy for the vehicle battery. Over 90 per cent of all the vehicles being produced at present are fitted with an engine start/stop function and Banner is supplying its advanced batteries for this purpose to respected manufacturers such as Audi, BMW, Porsche, Seat, Volvo and Volkswagen. To this end, since 2011 the company has invested over EUR 20 million in the installation of related production capacity at its location in Linz-Leonding, Upper Austria.
A closed recycling system from production to reprocessing. As early as fifty years ago, Banner, which is the only Austrian manufacturer of starter batteries, initiated the recycling of used batteries and the reintroduction of the treated material into the new product production chain. In the workshops and sales outlets, new Contact: Günther Lemmerer, Marketing and PR Banner Batterien GmbH Banner Strasse 1, 4021 Linz-Leonding (A) Tel. +43/(0)732/38 88-21550, Fax DW 61550 Mobile +43/(0)676/873 81 550 E-mail: guenther.lemmerer@bannerbatterien.com www.bannerbatterien.com
MediaInfo batteries were sold and old batteries stored in special containers until collected by the company itself. Valuable raw materials such as lead, sulphuric acid and polypropylene were thus returned to the production cycle. In concrete terms, during the past 19 years the Starter Battery Environmental Forum (UFS), with Banner as one of its founder members, has been able to collect over 15 million used batteries. The raw materials that these contained, which for example included 160,000t of lead, were then 99 per cent recycled by a special company in Austria. As a result, batteries have achieved the highest collection rate of all the recyclable goods on the market, even outstripping glass and paper.
The future belongs to innovative and resource-protective products. Andreas Bawart, Banner’s commercial CEO, gives the following guarantee: “As a starter battery specialist, our company is well aware of its high degree of responsibility to both people and nature, and has demonstrated this fact for more than fifty years with a closed recycling process for its products. In addition, our plant in Linz-Leonding is designed to meet the strictest environmental and safety standards and we intend to continue to orientate our future innovations and investments in precise accordance with this leitmotif. For me, a vehicle battery is only “green” when apart from its use in drive concepts that reduce both fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, the sourcing and reprocessing of the resources employed are organised in a manner that wherever possible excludes waste. In this regard, the lead battery is a model that has no equal among alternative vehicle battery technologies.”
Photo captions: Picture 1) The Banner recycling system Picture 2) Banner start/stop batteries for environment-friendly vehicles Picture 3) Recycled lead for new Banner batteries All photos: reprints free of charge. Specimen copy requested.
Contact: Günther Lemmerer, Marketing and PR Banner Batterien GmbH Banner Strasse 1, 4021 Linz-Leonding (A) Tel. +43/(0)732/38 88-21550, Fax DW 61550 Mobile +43/(0)676/873 81 550 E-mail: guenther.lemmerer@bannerbatterien.com www.bannerbatterien.com
MediaInfo Banner at a glance Banner GmbH is an innovative, steadily expanding producer of top quality starter batteries. The company, which is based in Linz-Leonding, Austria, has been manufacturing batteries for all types of vehicles since 1937. The family-owned firm, which is headed by Andreas Bawart and Thomas Bawart, employs a workforce of around 770 across Europe. Banner produces and sells over 3.70 million starter batteries annually and thus numbers among the oldest, most experienced and important brands in the battery production field. Banner batteries are used for the first fitting of numerous models from Audi, BMW, Caterpillar, Jungheinrich, Kässbohrer, Liebherr, Mercedes, Mitsubishi, Porsche, SEAT, Volvo, and VW. In Austria, Germany, Switzerland, France, The Netherlands, the UK, Denmark, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Russia, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey retailer support is provided via a company network of sales companies with a total of 28 branches. Moreover, Banner products are sold in more than 50 European, African and Asian states via direct importers. Future-oriented technology and outstanding quality underline the international reputation of these exemplary products with “buffalo power”, which are also characterized by the Banner logo. Further information is available at www.bannerbatterien.com.
Contact: Günther Lemmerer, Marketing and PR Banner Batterien GmbH Banner Strasse 1, 4021 Linz-Leonding (A) Tel. +43/(0)732/38 88-21550, Fax DW 61550 Mobile +43/(0)676/873 81 550 E-mail: guenther.lemmerer@bannerbatterien.com www.bannerbatterien.com