Sustainability and sustainable products have always been significant at Loesche. Back in 1928, the company built the first spring-loaded airflow mills, still known today as Loesche mills.
Nowadays, Loesche vertical roller mills form the core of many plants used to dry-grind coal, produce cement from raw materials and extract industrial minerals and ores. And the company’s engineers are always striving to improve efficiency and sustainability in operations.
“I think sustainability was always in the Loesche DNA,” said Dr Martin Reformat, Head of Sustainable Technologies. “Dr Thomas Loesche's mother (managing
Loesche is a family business founded in Berlin in 1906. Today, the company operates from its head office in Duesseldorf to engineer solutions for the design, installation and upgrade of state-of-the-art equipment and existing plant constructions. Hannah Barnett spoke to Head of Sustainable Technologies Dr Martin Reformat and Senior Manager for Knowledge Management, Communication & Sustainability Dr Regina Krammer to learn more.
partner and owner in the third generation) was already active in the field of waste treatment and recycling in the 1960s. Tha t was pioneering in Germany at the time. Plus, our core product, the Loesche mill, has always been very efficient. This is something we have enhanced over the decades to a high level.”
A wide breadth
These roots were cultivated in 2021 with the establishment of a Loesche sustainability team, and the publication of the company’s first sustainability report. This voluntary action has since been repeated for the last two years.
“For 2024, we aim to publish a CSRD report, also not yet mandatory, which means including more details and KPIs about everything connected to ESG,” said Dr Regina Krammer, Senior Manager for Knowledge Management, Communication & Sustainability. “European law says that we have until 2025; it will be our first attempt to follow the existing law before we are forced to do so.”
As a result of its dedicated sustainable ethos, the company has worked hard to optimise its own emissions, electricity and water consumption at its Duesseldorf HQ. And that is not all; social initiatives are being pushed to the fore, too.
“We came up with several social responsibility days, where we try to help local organisations in Duesseldorf,” explained Dr Krammer. “We are also
focusing on how to become more friendly to biodiversity at our HQ. We try to figure out what possibilities we have and what can we afford to do.
“We also want to become more interesting to all potential applicants. Within most technical environments, there is room for more diversity. The proportion of women and diverse people in our workforce does not reflect the number of female and diverse students at German universities. This is also an issue that the sustainability team is addressing.”
Solutions for the sector
Such environmental and socially conscious measures are in addition to the products Loesche develops for its customers to improve their own sustainability. The company stands out from the pack by always remaining
in close communication with clients and making use of its Test Center to analyse materials and produce an optimum product.
“We look at enhancing processing in terms of how to impact the material in the most efficient way,” Dr Reformat explained. “For example, we have an important project in the Australian mining sector. Water is a scarce resource in Australia. That´s why the client decided to install Loesche´s efficient dry comminution device for ore processing, that not only saves energy but also water. Further dry-processing technologies for the mining industry are under development.”
Another arm of the worldwide Loesche Group is Dynamis, based in São Paulo, Brazil. “Dynamis is expert on clay calcination, which is a really big topic in the cement business right now because clay can reduce CO2 dramatically, by up to 40 per cent related to ordinary Portland cement.” said Dr Reformat.
Indeed, the cement industry is well known for producing large quantities
of CO2 emissions. The company offers training for customers on how to operate plants in the most efficient way.
“We try to support clients with our products and processes to reduce emissions,” explained Dr Krammer. “This has always been our mission: to reduce CO2 emissions and energy consumption as much as possible, minimising operating costs.”
The future of the family firm
As a family-owned business, Loesche enjoys a high rate of staff retention and a positive, constructive atmosphere that helps it stand apart from competitors.
“We are all personally involved, and our self-motivation is high,” Dr Krammer reflected. “Of course, we are a traditional company and we’re proud of that. But we are dedicated to change too, by increasing our own sustainability, and
enhancing the sustainability measures of our customers. ”
Indeed, as the focus on sustainability becomes ever greater, both in the company and across the wider industry, Loesche’s commitment to its customers has paid dividends.
“We are very close to the clients,” said Dr Reformat. “So, we see the trends, we see the opinions of the decision makers, we see our customers problems and we maintain strong relationships. There was a big change in the last few years in the mindset of the customer, with the focus on sustainability becoming bigger, alongside the government pressure. We react and respond very quickly to a client’s needs. This is the essential USP of Loesche.”
While the market becomes increasingly tougher, price pressures remain a pertinen t issue. Loesche’s objectives are to
stay ahead, stay innovative and stay sustainable.
But what challenges are on the horizon?
“ For many companies, especially in Germany, we have a generational change issue,” explained Dr Krammer. “So, hundreds of combined years of experience will retire in the next couple of years. We need to save this knowledge and transfer it to the younger employees. And we need to stay an attractive option for graduates.”
“One of the most important measures to consider is concrete and cement recycling,” added Dr Reformat. “This is the next step in saving resources and our environment. We have been conducting intensive research in this field for more than a decade and have published and patented our solution. Loesche's technology for concrete recycling, called S/CRETE, is unique on
the market. And I think this will be the new megatrend.”
“It was always my passion to shift borders and to go beyond the technical standard. This is exactly what we need. Because we are running out of time to save the environment. Developing pilot-scale solutions is all we have for industrial-scale issues. On the one hand, it is very worrying. On the other, it is highly motivating.”
For Dr Krammer, the freedom to work on such important topics is similarly inspiring.
“That’s probably why my position never gets boring,” she concluded. “There are always lots of new challenges. Sometimes the work can be quite exhausting. But most of the time it’s really fun and exciting to work for a medium-sized, family-owned German business, while dealing with the entire world.” n
