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OUR FOCUS: PEOPLE, PLANET, PROFITABILITY KEY FACTORS IN SUSTAINABILITY FOR BETTER PROFITABILITY
Profitability is a key factor and condition when evaluating the reliability and capability of a company. Without profitability a company cannot thrive and develop. Profitability is, thus, a key component for any sustainable company. Expectations from owners, societies and authorities encourage us to develop our operations to a more sustainable direction and to pursue the leading position in sustainability in our industry. That leads to energy efficiency and reduced waste. In our business, the normal waste handling and recycling is a routine task when it is compared to processing explosive waste. This kind of material must be handled and transported in the same way as explosives. Currently the only way to handle explosive residuals is open burning, but we are trying to find other options for material reusage. When material reusage is possible, it will minimise emissions to air and increase safety, as several handling stages of explosives become unnecessary.
example, a detailed mapping work in Vihtavuori factory has resulted in production enhancements and diminished waste formation. Tracking the formation of off-spec and waste material in production helped us to identify causes and reduce error occurance. Formation of off-spec material is caused either by process, raw material or human error. Data collection is needed to understand process challenges better. Operators have an important role in writing down their observations. During more accurate follow-up many best practices have been taken into use in each shift and in written instructions. REUSING WASTES
material are reducing our environmental footprint and simultaneously improving profitability in cases where the residual streams have economical value. Recycling of production residual streams have been realised in large scale in Hanko for many years already. Diluted acids and so-called nitrogen water is being re-used at companies in the Finnish chemical industry (approximately 6,000 tons in 2020) or recycled back to our own process (200 tons in 2020). Plastic reusage by other companies currently being investigated and tested. Recycling possibilities vary in each country.
Good practices and routines in waste handling, efforts to reuse resources to the largest possible extent, and minimising the utilisation of virgin
Reduction of explosive waste in Vihtavuori in 2020 compared to the previous year - 20 %
GREAT FINDINGS IN VIHTAVUORI PRODUCTION
A more precise mapping of the origin of the explosive residuals will be done to minimise waste in every station, tunnelling site and factory. As an
We have started to recycle high-quality plastic films and other plastic packages and sort them into material reuse or energy waste.
Sustainability in short
