Additive manufacturing is at the centre of modern production technologies - not only because of its versatility, but also because of its potential to promote sustainability and resource efficiency. At the General Assembly of the Swissmem Gruppe - Swiss Additive Manufacturing, Marcel Farkhondeh, Chief of the Competence Centre Sustainability at cross-ING, together with Ralf Schindel, Managing Director of prodartis AG, presented specific measures for reducing the carbon footprint in the additive manufacturing of plastic series components.
Challenges and opportunities of additive manufacturing
Additive manufacturing enables innovative approaches to reducing material and energy consumption. But how exactly can sustainability be implemented in practice? Both basic strategies such as eco-design and specific measures were presented in the lecture:
Sustainable material alternatives: To replace fossil raw materials and significantly reduce CO₂ emissions.
Conserving resources: Optimising production and distribution processes to use less material and energy.
Life cycle management: Solutions for extending product life and concepts for the end of life of components were presented in order to promote a circular economy.
Innovation in detail
Carbon Reduced PA12: By using renewable energy, CO₂ emissions per kilogramme of material have been reduced by around 45%.
Waste water treatment: In-house facilities make it possible to minimise the environmental impact of production processes.
Lightweight construction principles: Material efficiency and weight savings through innovative designs help to reduce energy consumption during the utilisation phase.
Eco-design is the key to sustainable production processes. Focusing on efficiency, consistency and sufficiency not only conserves resources, but also creates products that last longer and are easier to recycle.
Additive manufacturing plays a central role here by enabling local production, flexible designs and resource-saving production. A practical example: research results show that additive manufacturing can reduce energy consumption in the production of complex components by up to 42%.
Are you ready to make your processes more sustainable? We would be happy to support you with the implementation. Contact us and find out more about the possibilities of additive manufacturing for a resource-saving future.
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