| Eco-efficiency at a Metal Finishing Factory in the Czech Republic | Czech Republic | 1994-95 | Full scale |
MANUFACTURE OF FABRICATED METAL PRODUCTS # 8
Background:
Koh-i-Noor is a metal finishing company in Prague, the Czech Republic, which employs 433 people and has a turnover of US$ 6.9 million. The company produces straight pins, safety pins, patent fasteners, rivetting buttons, thimbles, braces, plastic and metal zips, components of suspender belts and garters, buttons and other small products. It has its own tool-making and machinery workshop.
Surface finishing is one of the most important processes in the production of small metal articles at Koh-i-Noor. Electroplating with nickel accounts for most of the surface finishing operations. The nickel plating line entails seven steps: degreasing, washing, pickling, washing, plating, washing and neutralizing. The electroplating process uses chemicals and water and is responsible for most of the pollution generated by the factory.
Cleaner Production Principle:
Housekeeping; Process modification; Recovery, reuse and recycling.
Cleaner Production Application:
Koh-I-Noor planned to build a waste water treatment facility to allow it to comply with environmental regulations. Water consumption in the electroplating shop was the main parameter for designing the new facility. Because the required investment of US$ 800,000 was considerable, the company was interested in investigating other methods to achieve compliance, especially cheaper methods. It turned to the Czech Cleaner Production Centre for assistance.
In 1994-1995, the Centre organized an eight-month course based on previous courses offered by the Czech-Norwegian Cleaner Production Project. Koh-I-Noor took part in that course, which consisted of lectures and in-plant training.
At Koh-I-Noor, about 80 percent of the total production is treated in the electroplating shop. At the start of the project there were two nickel plating lines. Although the old line placed a greater burden on the environment than the newer one, it was decided by the team of consultants and management to focus on the latter.
The company continued the improvements at its own initiatives after the consultants left. In the six months after the end of the project, the company was able to reduce water use by a considerable amount.
A number of technological changes were involved:
| Eco-bath: On-site recycling of the first static washing bath to the nickel plating baths as make-up water; |
| Reduction of the plating current; |
| Use of different types of plating drums for different types of products; and |
| Interconnection of washing baths after pickling into a cascade, as well as other water-saving measures. |
The reduction in water use during the follow-up period was achieved mainly by adding a nickel recovery unit to the eco-bath.
Environmental and Financial Benefits:
The increased efficiency of the newer nickel plating line enabled the company to close down the old line. Annual water consumption was reduced by 8,223 m3. The waste water flow was reduced 56 percent to 7.7 m3 per hour. Electricity use was cut by nearly 22,000 kWh on an annual basis. The use of chemicals and nickel was also reduced by 3, 100 and 980 kg per year, respectively.
With the exception of the cost of the recovery unit, which was purchased only in the follow-up period, the investments for realizing the improvements were close to zero. The amount saved in the first year was US$ 20,078.
Before cleaner production measures were instituted, a waste water treatment plant needing an investment of US$ 792,000 would have been needed (capacity: 17.8 m3/hr). As a result of the project, the required capacity of the plant dropped to 7.7 m3/hr, which would need an investment of US$ 538,000. A further saving was achieved in the follow-up period: the treatment plant would now need a capacity of only 4.8 m3/hr and would cost US$ 300,000.
Constraints:
None mentioned.
Contacts:
Review Status:
This case study was the result of a UNIDO-funded demonstration project and was taken from UNIDO's booklet, Cleaner Industrial Production (see address above). It was edited for the ICPIC diskette in November 1998. It has not undergone a formal technical review by UNEP IE.
Subsequently, in March 1999 the case study underwent a technical review by Dr. Prasad Modak, Environmental Management Centre, Mumbai, India.