ZERMEG II – Zero emission retrofitting method ... - Fabrik der Zukunft

2 The galvanizing industry in Europe – importance and environmentalaspectsThe galvanic coating industry is a very important part of a society looking forward to the useof sustainable products. By coating metal surfaces components or products get differentcharacteristics, which could be i.e. a higher mechanical durability, abrasion resistance,protection from corrosion, resistance against different solvents, components can be madeconductive or electrical conductivity can be surpressed, or components can be dyed (AGBREF Oberflächentechnik, 2002, European committee for survace treatment, 2002).There are more than 10.000 firms in the electro-plating industry in Europe and about 8.300companies using so called in-house galvanic equipment. There are about 440.000 employeesin Europe working in this business. The production of printed-circuit-boards is included inthese numbers.Without printed circuit boards produced by galvanizing processes modern electronics wouldnot exist. Monetary loss of steel parts due to corrosion is said to be € 200 million daily orapproximately € 0,5 per day per citizen of the European Union.Keeping in mind that 1 kg zinc is used for the protection of 1 ton of screws and bolts againstcorrosion and noticing that in a modern car there are about 2000 – 3000 galvanised parts, inan airbus up to 2 million parts, the importance of the galvanising industry becomes obvious.The galvanising industry guarantees jobs and makes the life-time of products longer, whichconserves resources and reduces the impact to the environment!The galvanising industry also has its negative aspects. The most obvious are a very highconsumption of water, raw materials, energy, and it generates waste water and sludge.During the galvanising processes different acids, bases, metal salts and other processchemicals are used. Because of their volume, the associated environmental pollution andlegal discharge regulations, the waste water has to be cleaned in appropriate treatmentplants.Approximately 1 % of the hazardous waste in Europe is produced by the electroplatingindustry. Germany estimated the amount of sludge from galvanising plants 2002 to be80.000 tons. Older estimations in 1997 speak of 250.000 tons of sludge, not including thenumbers of anodising (about 50.000 tons) and pickling companies. Close to 30 % of thesludge is used as secondary raw material, the rest has to be landfilled.The numbers of the volumes of sludge generated in Austria differ. The FederalEnvironmental Agency mentions 14.000 tons per year of hazardous and non-hazardouswaste caused by the electrolating industry. The Styrian Chamber of Commerce amounts thehydroxide sludge of the electroplating industry to 50.000 tons per year (Planasch, 2003,Fresner, 2004 c).3