Interview - Castolin Eutectic

RECYCLING SHREDDER IN NEED OF WEAR PROTECTION

MADETOLAST

Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Tabish Wani, Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Castolin Eutectic, about improving the lifespan of industrial equipment, reducing carbon emissions, and the educational programs available for Castolin’s employees and partners.

By Isobel Moss

Founded in Switzerland in 1906, Castolin Eutectic is a materials technology company, specializing in welding, brazing, and coating technologies which reduce wear to industrial equipment, lengthening the lifetime of components. The company has over 1540 employees across 10 manufacturing locations, 31 market centers, and 20 service centers, providing maintenance and repair services for customers across the oil and gas, mining, pulp and paper, chemicals, glass, cement, steel, and power generation sectors.

“Before the world started talking about sustainability and green conservation, Cas-

COATINGS FOR AEROSPACE IN OUR ADVANCED NEWCASTLE WORKSHOP tolin Eutectic was already doing it,” explains Tabish Wani, Managing Director and COO of Castolin Eutectic. “We encourage environmentally-friendly innovation within our company, and we make sure that sustainability is about trust and acting ethically. We work closely with waste and recycling factories, supporting them in optimizing asset efficiency for their shredders, crushers, grapples or screws. On top of that, we perform sustainable refurbishment jobs in the automotive, cement and steel sectors.”

SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS FOR BRITISH AEROSPACE INDUSTRY

One of Castolin Eutectic’s businesses in the UK, operating under the brand name Monitor Coatings, is a specialist in aerospace industry repairs. “The blade propellers are made from very expensive materials,” explains Mr. Wani. “These blades would have to be changed every few flights or rotations. Had it not been for our technologies, these turbines would be thrown away and replaced

“WE ENCOURAGE INNOVATION WITHIN OUR COMPANY, AND WE MAKE SURE THAT SUSTAINABILITY IS ABOUT TRUST AND ACTING ETHICALLY.”

RESTORATION OF VERTICAL ROLLER MILL IN CEMENT INDUSTRY BRAZING FLUXES EXEMPT OF CMR CHEMICALS

with new parts. Castolin Eutectic takes these worn-out parts from jet engines and surface-coats them, making them as good as new, and lasting much longer.”

Landing gear is also protected against wear using a similar process. “We enhance surface resistance, resulting in a longer lifespan for components, while simultaneously reducing cost and hassle for the customers,” says Mr. Wani. “Likewise, in the cement industry, we restore the equipment that mixes raw and corrosive materials to make cement with very specific hardened steel, extending the assets’ service life by three to five times.”

CENTURY OF PROGRESS

“The purpose of the company 100 years back was already about sustainability, and in sync with today’s mission: helping our customers to refurbish and reuse their industrial components,” says Mr. Wani. “More and more, everything we launch on the market aims towards sustainability, whether it be welding, brazing, surface protection powders, equipment, hardened CastoDur Diamond Plates (CDP®), or the general maintenance and repair services we supply. Our sense of commitment to the environment and to our operators’ safety has changed, and therefore our formulations and ingredients have evolved. We replace labor-intensive and environmentally unfriendly materials with smart formulations that we get to the market. The new brazing fluxes introduced are free of any carcinogenic, mutagenic and reprotoxic (CMR) substances, and the new welding wires are free of chrome and nickel. We share the ingredients that we use with our customers, making them available on our data sheets and website. We are very transparent in that way.”

REPAIRS FOR WASTE & RECYCLING INDUSTRY

FOOTPRINT REDUCTIONS & ESG

In recent years, Castolin Eutectic have implemented several actions plans to reduce their environmental footprint. “Regarding the supply chain, we are now forming one global company with common resources, reducing our carbon footprint by limiting the number of transport kilometers travelled by 40% to 50%,” says Mr. Wani. “Regarding our operations, we have started monitoring our energy consumption, and reducing our dependence on conventional energy sources, while leaning more towards renewable energy as part of our Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) program.”

The company is also currently reviewing its packaging. “In previous years, Castolin Eutectic resorted more frequently to plastic; now, we are strategically moving into more paper-based packaging,” says Mr. Wani. “Recently, our top management has signed up to the UN Global Compact, a global movement of sustainable companies and stakeholders that do business responsibly. We have shown our commitment for the reuse and recycling process in the industrial sector for more than 100 years. Sustainability has been our vision, and it will stay at our core.”

FUTURE-GAZING

Castolin Eutectic also has programs in place to educate suppliers on various aspects of sustainability. “We have a code of conduct that specifies our company values, our aspirations in sustainability, and which outlines what we expect from our employees and partners in terms of contribution,” explains Mr. Wani. “We have a separate environmental policy in place which is homing in on CO2 emissions, offering very specific targets in terms of oil, gas, fuel, electricity, and freshwater consumption, while minimizing hazardous waste production.”

The company has also launched internal training programs designed to further raise employee engagement in the sustainability action plan, by providing them with the tools and processes to contribute positively to the sustainability efforts. “A big proportion of our employees are technical sales consultants for key industries, connecting with customers on-site to expand their knowledge,” explains Mr. Wani. “Top management is reflecting on reward schemes to acknowledge employee progress on sustainability matters.”

“In the future, we can expect new, innovative R&D products and solutions from Castolin Eutectic,” says Mr. Wani. “That’s one of our core strategies: as we run out of conventional materials, we’re looking at formulations of the next level of materials, including the electrification of the automotive industry. We want to explore more modern product compositions that are sustainable and eco-friendly, but also very impactful for our customers in terms of performance and cost. These are the aspirations of our company.” c

WELDING WIRE FREE OF CHROME AND NICKEL SCREW REFURBISHMENT WITH CDP WEARPLATES