Global Compact International Yearbook 2016

Investments for
a Greener Future
With help from Norway Grants, ROMRADIATOARE has invested
in modern and innovative technologies for improved environmental
performance.
By Mihai Răducan, ROMRADIATOARE
The Green Industry Innovation Programme
Romania, which “aims to increase competitiveness
of green enterprises, including
greening of existing industries, green
innovation and green entrepreneurship”
(www.Norwaygrants-greeninnovation.
no), fit perfectly with our development
plans. With a € 550,000 grant, we began
the Green Business Development for Increased
Competitiveness project and invested
more than € 1.1 million in modern
machinery, equipment, and CAD-CAM
software. The aim of our project was to
improve the environmental performance
of our company, both in terms of “greening”
the production processes as well as
increasing the production capabilities and
capacity for greener products within the
overall production structure.
With 90 years of history, ROMRADIA-
TOARE is the oldest and most well-known
Romanian company producing radiators
and heat exchangers, and one of the oldest
in Europe. Although tradition is valuable
and attests to the notion that over
a long period of time we have been able
to continually add value for our customers,
it can also be a drawback, especially
with regard to the technology being used.
Old machinery and technologies for cutting,
forming, soldering, brazing, welding,
painting, and many other processes were
“traditional,” meaning we lagged behind
in productivity and efficiency as well as
environmental performance. Furthermore,
we assessed the health and safety aspects
for the people working in our factory
and wanted better conditions, even if
current ones were compliant with laws
and regulations.
Industrial production is a polluting activity
by its nature – old machinery and
old technology contribute to its environmental
impact – and ROMRADIATOARE
is part of this process. In 2014 we assessed
our equipment and production facilities
and concluded it was time for a change.
Even if our environmental impact was
well below the limits imposed by law, it
was not low enough for us.
The new CNC laser-cutting
machine acquired with the
support from Norway Grants
From our analysis, there were some key areas
that needed to be addressed. Firstly, we
needed to increase our energy efficiency,
to reduce natural gas consumption, and
to reduce harmful emissions to air and
wastewater. Secondly, our design and production
accuracy needed improvement in
order to reduce scrap levels due to quality
issues, reduce raw material technological
waste (copper, brass, aluminum, and
steel), and to increase production capacity
for greener heat exchangers. Thirdly, it
was the implementation of OHSAS 18001
– an international Occupational Health
and Safety Management System – that
would set the standard for our activity.
Each and every investment carried out as
part of our project tackled one or more
of these issues.
Energy consumption is one of our most
import focus areas, as excess energy con-
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Global Compact International Yearbook 2016