Recycling CNC milling emulsion at Matro Ltd. Hungary
Summary:
Matro Ltd. In Hungary decreased the amount of machining emulsions and solutions free of halogens (EWC Code 12 01 09* ) by testing different emulsions, selecting appropriate products and recycling the emulsion by removing metal chips.
Main description:
Matro Ldt. is medium-sized company operating in Hungary. MATRO Kft. is one of the leading automotive suppliers in South Transdanubia. The engineering products of the company are integrated into almost all passenger and commercial vehicle brands in Europe. The company has been operating for more than 30 years, and employs more than 300 staff members. The company produces gasoline and diesel engine parts, break system parts, hook parts, tool holders for CNC machines, and other turning parts for automotive and general purpose.
The cooling-lubricating emulsion used in CNC milling have become a significant environmental factor due to the volume used and the hazardous waste generated with around 50 tons produced annually. The cooling-lubricating emulsions that can be used for machining are continuously improved by manufacturers, so better materials appear on the market every year.
In order to reduce the amount of hazardous waste (the emulsion) generated first the company started to search for a single product that is suitable for all the different machinery in 2017. At that time, two different lubricants were used. Apart from economic advantages Matro considered finding a product with a favourable refill properties during testing. Also, the life cycle, i.e., adequate biostability, was essential. Due to the continuous testing done since then, Matro Ltd. was able to gather enough evidence to start reducing their environmental impact by switching to use only one lubricant, minimizing the use of cooling-lubricating emulsion as well as being able to filtering and subsequently reusing the used emulsion. Lub Service, an independent fluid management consulting company, helped to design a precise system that eliminates the risk of the lubricant being contaminated by fungi or bacteria. The amount of emulsion required for the operation of the continuously expanding machine park leads to increasing annual amount of lubricants used and waste generated.
Resources needed:
The investment needed is not significant (the separator was also already existing at the company). It was used to filter and clean the filling of the emulsion tanks of individual machines. The important change was to bring a system to the work processes and create appropriate administrative measurements.
Environmental benefits:
The use of compatible (miscible) emulsions and subsequent treatment and recycling means that since August 2017, nearly 13219L (66 barrels) of concentrated emulsion was recycled and reused. It resulted in a reduction of nearly 13,5 tons in the amount of hazardous waste. Due to the efforts of Matro Ltd., the amount of emulsion waste generated when processing a unit of raw material is continuously decreasing (from 67.41 kg/ton in 2021 to 50.83 kg/ton by 2023).
Economic benefits:
Since 2017, over 17 million HUF (42,500 EUR) in cutting oil recirculation and around 25,000 EUR in avoided waste transport expenses.
