Industry-leading innovation to foster a sustainable future
~ Sandvik Rock Processing Solutions awarded the group’s annual sustainability award ~
Building circularity into product development is challenging, but it’s something manufacturers should be doing in the interests of our planet. Leading the way for sustainable innovation, the team in Svedala, represented by Jörgen Petersson and Anders Åkesson of Sandvik Rock Processing Solutions (SRP) developed a circularity program for the manufacturing of premium rock crushing chambers. In recognition of this project, Petersson and Åkesson have been presented with Sandvik Group’s sustainability award for 2021.
At one of the world’s most sustainable manganese foundries, in Svedala, Sweden, SRP has developed a program to reuse materials from old cone crushers to manufacture crusher chambers made from over 90 per cent recycled steel. Combined with further investment into metal chip internal recycling from other operations at the site, and a buy-back scheme, the program has achieved a reduction in CO2 emissions — the equivalent of 16,000 tons per year.
Throughout 2020, the SRP team conducted a life cycle assessment (LCA) of the circular manganese steel wear parts in collaboration with Sandvik Materials Technology (SMT) to evaluate the parts’ environmental performance over their entire lifecycle. Supported by the IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, SRP developed an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) for the circular manganese steel.
An EPD is an independently verified document that certifies information about the lifecycle and environmental impact of products. Sandvik is leading in this field as the first supplier in the industry to achieve an EPD for manganese crusher wear parts.
The industry-leading outcome of the project resulted in its leaders, Petersson and Åkesson, being awarded Sandvik’s internal sustainability award, officially titled The Sandvik Sustainability Award in Memory of Sigrid Göransson, in April 2021.
“Sandvik strives to integrate sustainability into every aspect of our business,” explained Mats W. Lundberg, head of sustainability at Sandvik Group. “The Sandvik Sustainability Award was launched to celebrate the best innovative sustainability contributions within the company and praise our long history of sustainability and community involvement.
“SRP’s circularity program has achieved exceptional results, putting us at the forefront of industry innovation and is a great step towards reaching the group’s sustainability goal — to achieve at least 90 per cent material circularity by 2030. On a broader scale, the project allows Sandvik Group to support its customers in reaching their own sustainability targets, making a lasting impact on the entire supply chain’s efforts to protect the future of our planet.”
To learn more about the Sandvik Rock Processing Solutions, please visit the division website. Discover more about the steps Sandvik Group is taking to make the sustainability shift here.
