Stena opens new German facility
06 Dec 2011
Stena Technoworld continues its expansion in Germany. In record time, the European leader in electronics recycling has built a new facility for over 360,000 refrigerators in Lauingen, outside of Munich.
“We offer customers the best technology available and achieve a high level of material recovery. Environmentally harmful freon gas is taken care of in an extremely secure closed system,” says Staffan Johansson, CEO of Stena Technoworld GmbH.
The German people consume a steady stream of electronics, including computers, MP3 players and other home electronics. At the new facility, visitors travel through time at the sight of freezer and refrigerator models from German households over the last few decades. A jumble of colorful 70s refrigerators and younger brushed steel products, all of which have completed their chilling duties, wait to be recycled into raw material for new products.
Stena Technoworld has facilities in Wangerland, Langhagen and Baumholder, where large quantities of refrigerators and other electronics scrap from the German market are recycled with efficient, environmentally friendly methods. In Lauingen in Bavaria, one fourth of the facility has been built and has been operating for just five months. From the first day, the facility has been running at full capacity, which is 360,000 refrigerators per year.
“This is Europe’s most modern facility for refrigerator recycling. With the best technology available, we can neutralize environmentally harmful freon gas in a closed system. More than 97 percent of the material in refrigerators is recycled; the rest is refined into fuel,” says Staffan Johansson.
Each recycled refrigerator creates a significant environmental benefit and makes it possible to avoid up to 2,200 kilos of carbon dioxide emissions. The process prevents leakage of gases that are extremely detrimental to the environment. Recycling reduces society’s need for new raw material from oil, forests and mines, which would lead to higher carbon dioxide emissions.
“Each year, just by recycling refrigerators and freezers in Germany, we help to avoid the equivalent of 945,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions. That’s the emissions equivalent of 150,000 flights around the world. So the facility’s environmental benefit is enormous!” says Staffan Johansson.
Press pictures:
http://stena.brandproject.se//external/index.cfm?publicId=9064ff77-19a6-4b8c-a92a-b830c2b2b4a9
Facts Business Area WEEE, the Stena Metall Group
The Stena Metall group is Europe's leading recycler of electronics. Electronics recycling began in 1992 and has operations in ten countries: Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Poland, Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Romania and Italy. Using the same tried-and-tested and effective processes, Europe's electronic waste is recycled in 29 of our facilities. An important objective is to continuously develop new, innovative recycling solutions for customers, the environment and society. www.stenatechnoworld.com
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