GreenNiedax

GreenNiedax

Niedax Takes Responsibility. Niedax is Environmentally Friendly.

 

Our natural resources are a valuable and limited asset. The environment and nature require special protection and responsible, sustainable use, for their own sake and for the benefit of future generations. 

At Niedax, we show our ecological appreciation for the world around us by taking a careful approach to all resources. We avoid waste wherever possible, recycle, and use high-quality, long-lasting materials for the production of our cable management systems.

Other measures including recording consumption values and optimizing them. Our environmental goal is to work continuously to improve, and to go beyond the legal requirements. 

We rely on a sustainable production method, that focuses on innovative action, attentive employees, and use of the latest technologies. 

We check the progress of all measures introduced and communicate them externally. For us, it is not about complying with the legal minimum, but about operating as socially and environmentally responsibly as possible.

As our cable support systems are largely made of steel and stainless steel, it is natural to wonder how sustainable these materials actually are.

Our Sustainable Measures

  • Expansion of production sites and storage areas reduces transport distances and energy consumption around the world
     
  • Using recycled steel leads to a significant reduction in CO2 emissions
     
  • The Niedax Group is successively expanding the share of electricity from renewable energy sources
     
  • A material-efficient, low-emissions value chain across all departments
     
  • We minimize packaging volumes and reuse packaging materials (wood and lattice boxes made from steel)
  • By expanding our production locations and storage space, we have reduced transportation routes and energy consumption around the world
     
  •  Low-energy LED bulbs at all locations
     
  • Counter and monitoring system to detect consumption peaks and trends early on and to simplify the generation of energy reports
     
  • Use of waste heat and reduced gas consumption thanks to state-of-the-art heating systems
     
  • Overarching management system for active climate and environmental protection: including Certifications to ISO 14001 (environment), ISO 45001 (occupational health and safety), ISO 50001 (energy) and the German the Water Resources Act (WHG)

Sustainable Steel

Industry in Germany alone produces almost 200 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), and only the energy generation sector produces a greater quantity of greenhouse gases. 

Steel production is a major contributor due to the coal that is required to heat the furnaces. Steel production requires iron ore, line, carbon, and ferrous alloys, including aluminum, chromium, manganese, silicon, titanium, and vanadium as input materials. 

For every ton of steel produced by European steel producers, around 1.2 tons of carbon dioxide are released. Which is why some steel producers are now taking an alternative approach and planning ways to use hydrogen instead of carbon dust in their future production. Entirely green steel production using climate-neutral hydrogen is both cost-intensive and time-consuming, and the production of sufficient quantities to meet the needs of German industry is not anticipated until 2025 at the earliest.

The Niedax Group intends to begin producing its first products from green steel in 2023. In addition, we are always looking for ways to save resources, reduce our environmental burden, and to start laying the foundations for a green and responsible future. 

Niedax Uses Recycled Steel to Reduce Carbon Dioxide Emissions

The second most helpful and currently most realistic solution for sparing raw materials is to use steel that has been produced using processed scrap (recycled steel). Steel is a material that can be continuously recycled and fed back into the materials cycle with no loss in quality. 

By-products from the production of steel can also be reused, either as raw materials, construction materials (iron works slag can be used in the cement industry and road construction), or fertilizer. Iron oxides are used in the paints industry. Tar, which is a by-product of coke production, is used in road construction.

This way, steel is more sustainable than almost any other material, and represents a great leap forward for climate protection. Instead of 1.2 tons of CO2 from production at integrated smelting works, the production of melted steel scrap produces just 0.4 tons of CO2 per ton of raw steel. That is a saving of 67 per cent. In addition, every ton of recycled steel avoids the breakdown of 1.5 tons of iron ore. 

We also use sustainable zinc

Zinc is an essential raw material for the long-term protection of steel against corrosion. It acts as a protective barrier, making steel products resistant to environmental influences and extending their lifespan.

Since the beginning of 2024, the Niedax Group utilizes "Low-Carbon Zinc" from the Swedish mining and smelting company Boliden in its own hot-dip galvanizing plant located in St. Katharinen (Germany). This will cover 20 percent of Niedax’s annual zinc consumption with a CO₂-reduced variant of the raw material.

By using "Low-Carbon Zinc," we significantly enhance the climate balance of our hot-dip galvanized cable tray systems. Compared to conventional zinc production, the zinc supplied by Boliden produces less than one kilogram of CO₂ per kilogram – a reduction in CO₂ emissions by over 70 percent according to ISO 14044.

 

Want to know more or have questions? Please get in touch!

We look forward to a shared, ecologically sustainable future!