Way beyond Standards and Regulations.

Complying with environmental and health and safety standards forms part and parcel of our non-negotiable responsibility at all corporate levels and throughout all our production sites, wherever they may be.
Moreover, we pursue an active policy to avoid negative impacts on the environment beyond the existing standards, and aim to raise the environmental consciousness of our personnel, suppliers, service providers and customers alike.  

Apart from the classical virtues of R&D engineering, which concentrate on new technical and economic challenges, our development philosophy regarding new products is profoundly influenced by environmental concerns and concepts of sustainability. Our principles are:

• As a minimum requirement, compliance with all relevant legislation, rules and regulations.
• Comprehensive testing of new raw materials in regards to their potential environmental impact.
• Great care to be taken concerning the usage and handling of raw material and resources.
• Promoting recycling of used materials and waste products.
• Maintaining a production philosophy in line with a health and environmental concerns.

An important proof of our present and future ISO 14001 environmental policy orientation is the fact that its organisation and implementation is part of the leadership responsibility of the R & D management. This ensures a timely and rigorous implementation of our environmental policy. Hence, our environmental objectives are simultaneously a crucial component of our R&D targets! Acting in such a responsible manner has borne fruit as the Winterthur Technology Group was one of the first corporations in the grinding industry to be certified according to EN ISO 14001.

Our German Wendt facilities make a valuable contribution to our above average environmental commitment. This is borne out for example by their high-efficiency air filtering and conditioning units with heat reclamation, their program to eliminate solvents and the rigorous replacement of potentially harmful materials (i.e. cobalt and chromium compounds). Furthermore, environmentally friendly and recyclable packaging has been in standard use for many years.

Our Swedish colleagues at SlipNaxos have proven the same environmental commitment. They have, for example, developed a system which captures released gases from the firing and drying kilns for vitrified and resin products, then guide these gases into a special furnace, burn them to a point of being free of any remaining harmful traces. The heat which is generated during this process is pumped back into the production flow to heat the very same drying and firing kilns. The result of this clever design: substantially lower local emission and notable energy savings.
 
Remarkable environmental achievements mark our Indian production site, too: with great effort and dedication the people at this plant have established their own water treatment plant to protect one of the most valuable local resources.  It is astounding to see how quickly the indigenous bird population converted the storage ponds into a sanctuary. Furthermore, wind power generation covers the greater part of the plant’s energy requirements. Incidentally, the plant hold shares in the relevant wind power generation company.

Our commitment at our many production sites has its roots, on the one hand, in our awareness of the technical feasibility of environmental protection, and on the other hand, in the physical beauty of the landscapes where our sites are located. Those who work in such beautiful surroundings as we do, may automatically be imbued with a strong desire to care for their environment. Just have a look at the photos of our sites - they speak for themselves.