Environmental, Social a Governance → Responsibility is our core value

Sustainability in MTX Group:

Circular economics, cutting edge technology and solar panels

Social and environmental responsibility are important drivers of our time. It also applies to industry, which faces increasing pressure to limit CO2 emissions. MTX Group has big but still realistic goals in this regard.

Text: Luděk Vokáč

Sustainability is the basic instinct of every living organism. You just try to survive,” says MTX Group Chief Strategy Officer, David Bečvář. He also thinks social responsibility and long-term sustainability have always been an integral part of industry. “Each company is trying to survive and the only way to do that is by being responsible and sustainable,” Bečvář adds. “The difference is social demand or what social responsibility and sustainability mean to people at any given time. After WW2, the demand was to feed people and return to normal. Today, the demand is understandably different,” explains the CSO. The group has always gone with social demand, and it’s no different today. "It doesn't matter if society defines whether you have to comply with noise limits or emission limits. You always have to adapt and work in such an environment," says Bečvář. The proof that the individual areas of sustainability are changing can be seen in recent events related to the war in Ukraine or in the gradually changing requirements placed on industry. In the past, the main focus was cutting emissions, but now a company’s carbon footprint is an increasingly important issue. The difference between the two can seem imperceptible to some, but in practice, there are a lot of differences. Emissions and carbon footprints will remain crucial topics in the medium term. That’s why MTX Group has been investing and taking steps in this regard. Unlike some other companies, however, the group does not promise the impossible or build "castles in the air". “There is a lot of talk about cutting emissions and our carbon footprint, but how are we supposed to be specific in this regard, when the Czech Republic still doesn’t have concrete, realistic plans for cutting carbon emissions in its energy mix?” asks Bečvář. According to him, the group must rely on its own capabilities and skills and adapt its overall sustainability strategy accordingly. "In my opinion, it’s realistic to reduce the carbon footprint of our products by 30% by 2030, maybe even a little earlier," says Bečvář. The group will take action to achieve this in three main areas. The first is increasing production efficiency. “New Best Available Technology (BAT) will help us reduce the energy required to produce our products,” explains Bečvář, adding that it’s mainly about modernizing current operations. The second area is inputs. Which is why MTX Group has decided to build its own solar power plant. There are three plants planned for the Moravian-Silesian Region with a total output of roughly 80–100MWp. These power plants should partially power production and any surplus energy is going to be sold to the grid. Solar power will allow the group to retain green certificates, which will offset the carbon footprint of the energy we might have bought were there not enough solar energy available. But, according to Bečvář, solar energy is an uncertain field. “We have a specific intention, but we still don’t know if we will be able to connect our capacity into the grid. If we can’t, our plans won’t be worth it,” says the CFO.

Waste is the future

Waste management is another important way to reduce your carbon footprint, according to Bečvář. "The circular economy is a crucial area for us. Why should we only make primary materials if we can use material that is already available,” says Bečvář. In terms of emissions, recycling makes a big difference. The carbon footprint of primary aluminum made using electricity from renewable sources, is about 4 kg of CO2 per kilogram of material. Someone had to mine bauxite somewhere and somehow transport it to the manufacturer. When using industrial waste, the footprint drops to 1.6 kg of CO2, and when using post-consumer waste, it drops to zero. For comparison, for example, Strojmetal Aluminium Forging adds only 0.95 kg of CO2 per kilogram of final product with its forging production process. For the MTX Group, investing in recycling waste makes a lot of sense in terms of reducing its carbon footprint (but also overall

costs). And it's not just at metallurgical plants where MTX Group is trying to make products and materials with a higher proportion of recycled materials. The group also includes the young company Henry Gas, which turns municipal waste into fuel. And not just waste that is collected from households right now. "Landfills are very unpleasant and often dangerous places, but at the same time they are a huge source of material and energy," suggests Bečvář as a possible future path. You can also use waste from incinerators that turn municipal waste into energy as a raw material. It’s called cinder and it contains a lot of metals, including non-ferrous ones. There is technology that can extract them.

Effort on all sides

In the Czech Republic, however, no one offers this. "It's mainly about showing that there is demand, and we will definitely try to do that," explains Bečvář. Another area that needs improvement is metal waste recycling, including small packaging and pieces. The CSO is also trying to think of ways to use the waste meaningfully. "We think we should manage the waste ourselves. It needs a lot of heat to melt and we think it’s better to just heat it once and keep it hot until the material turns into sheet metal or another final product that doesn’t need any further heat processing,” continued David, outlining the vision. Another way to cut emissions is to monitor the carbon footprint of bought products. “If you don’t check carbon emissions throughout the whole chain, you can easily just move the problem instead of solving it,” explains Bečvář. Just as clients place demands on MTX Group, the group places demands on its suppliers as much as possible. The CSO suggests another way to cut emissions is dialogue with the customer. “Some of our clients’ quality requirements go against the principles of reducing our carbon footprint, but they don’t

30%

That's how much MTX Group plans to reduce emissions by.

affect the quality or functionality of the final product,” says Bečvář, adding that emissions can be reduced on all sides. Sometimes, even functionality can be sacrificed to a certain degree, but that needs to be done with great caution. “For example, we can make better recyclable packaging for food. The problem is that it reduces shelf life, and we have to be careful not to cause more food waste,” he describes. In general, he advocates that all necessary changes be approached with reason and in a broader context.