Conscientious Casting
At CastAlum, as well as striving for excellence in our die casting and machining processes, we are equally conscientious about environment stewardship. This is reflected in our ongoing efforts towards sustainable manufacturing. Since our site was created in 2000, we have completed many site-wide and process-specific initiatives aimed at reducing our energy footprint.
Striving for Sustainability
To start: aluminium remains one of the most recycled materials on earth. 98% of the metal that we melt in our die casting foundry is secondary, recycled aluminium. This metal takes 95% less energy to recycle than it does to produce from scratch. And melting it in our furnaces takes 80% less energy than its primary counterpart. Incorporating a furnace on each cell allows to maximise efficiency by melting the precise amount of aluminium needed and removes the energy consumption (and risks) of transporting it to individual cells.
As part of our continuous improvement process, we are always optimising our systems to ensure superior quality standards. This leads to fewer customer rejections, and therefore decreased energy consumption in the return process.
We are proud to hold our ISO 14001 certification and proactively collaborate with both the Powys environmental board and our national trade association’s “zero carbon” committee to continually identify areas for improvement. We also maintain an internal ‘Smart Ideas’ programme for employees to identify improvements we can make in all areas of the business.
The beautiful Welsh countryside
Step-by-Step Improvements
Just some of the improvements we have made in the past five years include:
- Transitioning to LED systems in our factory and office lighting
- Introducing a new air flow control system
- Conducting multiple insulation upgrades across our facilities
- Implementing measures for quantifying and recording water usage to minimise waste
- Innovative intelligent air blow-off systems
- Voltage optimisation
- Smart foundry planning to optimise energy usage
- Optimised melting and heat retention technology
- Variable speed compressors with waste heat recovery systems
- Packaging reviews with customers to reduce transport and dunnage
These and other efforts have enabled us to reduce our CO2 emissions by over 500 tonnes per annum at an investment cost of £4,000,000. We also have several other projects in the pipeline, including enhancements to our cooling towers and pumps, further insulation upgrades, and a project to recover waste heat to run an evaporative unit for water recovery and reduced external waste.
Locally, we aim to continue our status as a conscientious local employer. This is done through supporting initiatives such as the local cycle club, an apprenticeship programme, and the maintenance of our on-site pond for local wildlife.
The company remains deeply committed to our ethos and sustainability efforts, which have always been a mainstay of the business. We believe our holistic approach benefits our company, our customers, and our local community.
Want to dive deeper into our sustainable efforts? Please visit our dedicated sustainability page on our website here.
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The CastAlum Factory in Welshpool, Mid Wales
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