€15 MILLION INVESTMENT IN NEW MELTING FURNACES
With this investment, we are working even more sustainably.
Circular and low-carbon aluminium: that is the goal we at E-MAX have been working towards for years with the high-quality, super-sustainable circular aluminium X-ECO. With an investment of €15 million in two new melting furnaces at our Kerkrade location, that goal is closer than ever.
Melting ovens fit for the future
Our foundry in Kerkrade currently operates three melting furnaces that are more than twenty years old. These will be replaced in mid-2022 with two new, state-of-the-art melting furnaces. With the commissioning of the two new furnaces the current production capacity of 60,000 tonnes will be increased by more than 40%, to as much as 85,000 tonnes of billets per year. ‘But increasing the production volume is not the main goal of this investment,’ according to Dimtri Fotij, CEO of E-MAX. ‘Producing even more sustainably is. The new furnaces are fully compliant with the latest European CO2 emission standards. A new filter system will ensure that our emission gases comply with the strictest European emission standards. A third benefit is the 30% reduction of natural gas consumption. Moreover, we only use scrap from old aluminium windows and doors, so less bauxite needs to be mined. That means less depletion of raw materials.’
Innovative technology
One of the two furnaces is special in that it is a two-chamber furnace. We will use this technology to process heavily contaminated aluminium. This includes aluminium coated with plastic or paint, for example. The other furnace will be used to process less contaminated used aluminium. This approach will enable us to recycle even more used aluminium. In this way we are working towards 100% circular aluminium with the same high-quality characteristics as classic aluminium.
Your products future-proof too
With X-ECO we are already able to produce aluminium profiles with more than 90% recycled content and mechanical and surface properties at least as good as those of classic aluminium. Years of research by the Free University of Brussels and Delft University of Technology have demonstrated this. We at E-MAX can now call ourselves a major player and pioneer in the development and production of circular aluminium. And this aluminium not only consists mostly of recycled material but also hugely reduces CO2 emissions.
‘Fifty million is a big investment for a medium-sized company like ours, but it will give us a ten-year lead.’
Dimitri Fotij,
CEO of E-MAX
Final piece
The investment in the new melting furnaces is not an isolated one. It is one of the many investments on our path towards sustainable production. ‘In total, over the course of more than ten years we have invested around €50 million,’ says Dimitri Fotij.
‘A big investment for a medium-sized company like ours, but it gives us
a ten-year lead.’