Sustainable Biz Magazine - Magazine - Page 25
T
he BMW Group's light metal
foundry in Landshut has once
again been certified by an
independent party for its sustainable use of
aluminium – meeting the standards of the
Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI),
an international non-profit organisation
supported by environmental and industrial
associations, aluminium producers and
processing companies. The ASI defines
sustainability criteria for an environmentally
and socially responsible aluminium value
chain.
“Sustainable extraction of raw materials and
conscious use of resources play a key role
for our in-house component production
and our global supplier network,” says Dr
Joachim Post, member of the Board of
Management of BMW AG responsible for
Purchasing and Supplier Network. “Sourcing
aluminium produced using solar power
for our in-house component production
lowers our CO2 emissions significantly. The
circular economy is also key to reducing
emissions and conserving natural resources.
Going forward, the aim is to build our new
vehicles with 50 percent secondary raw
materials.”
Landshut’s light metal foundry, the BMW
Group’s only production facility for light
metal casting in Europe, is among the most
advanced, most sustainable foundries in
the world. Thanks to its use of inorganic
sand cores, the casting process is virtually
emission-free. The light metal foundry
began sourcing aluminium produced
using solar power in 2021. Since producing
aluminium is highly energy-intensive, the
use of green power such as solar electricity
offers considerable potential for reducing
CO2 emissions. The tens of thousands of
tonnes of solar aluminium supplied in
this way meet more than a third of annual
requirements for the light metal foundry at
Plant Landshut.
Along with steel, aluminium accounts for
the largest share, by weight, of the materials
used in BMW Group vehicles. Around two
thirds of the aluminium used in Landshut
comes from a recycling loop – with almost
two thirds of this from the foundry's own
closed loop. In this way, the BMW Group is
consciously reducing its use of more CO2intensive primary aluminium in favour of a
CO2-optimised recycling loop. Green power
is also used to produce it.
The BMW Group has a long tradition of
responsible use of aluminium. For more
than ten years, the light metal foundry
has been working with local processors
to implement a recycling loop for postproduction scrap metal salvaged from
the foundry process. The decisive factor
here is clean separation of aluminium
residues. Residues are collected from all
casting and mechanical processing stations
according to type, so materials with different
compositions are not mixed. This means
that, after reconditioning, aluminium waste
can be reused to manufacture the same
components.
“The BMW Group has supported the
Aluminium Stewardship Initiative from the
beginning,” says Dr Stefan Kasperowski,
head of BMW Group Plant Landshut
and the light metal foundry, which is
the largest production area at the plant
in Lower Bavaria. “We are fully aware of
our responsibility and value sustainable
production of raw materials for our
manufacturing.”
Last year, employees at the light metal
foundry produced around 3.3 million cast
components with a total weight of more
than 73,000 tonnes. The scope of production
includes engine components such as
cylinder heads and crankcases, components
for electric drive trains and large-scale
structural components for vehicle bodies.
The responsibility of the BMW Group
extends beyond recycling to the aluminium
used. The conditions under which the
raw material bauxite is extracted by open
cast mining and processed in countries
like Australia, Brazil and Guinea are also
important to the company.
The BMW Group is in direct contact with
aluminium suppliers and recycling partners
in an effort to gradually expand ASI
certification to the entire material cycle –
starting with the producing mines.
The light metal foundry has now been
certified to the ASI Performance Standard
for the second time. The auditing criteria
require evidence of material stewardship,
such as a holistic lifecycle analysis for
the company's own products and a
comprehensive recycling strategy, as well as
compliance with standards for transparency,
overall management and corporate integrity.
The initial successful certification in
accordance with the criterion of material
stewardship took place in December 2019.
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