Operational
We strive to improve our performance annually across key environmental metrics to deliver superior value to all stakeholders. Our goals and practices associated with greenhouse gas emissions, energy intensity, recycling, and water use demonstrate our commitment to best-in-class performance and reducing our operational footprint.
GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS & ENERGY INTENSITY
We are committed to reducing our carbon footprint through the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In 2022, we reduced absolute Scope 1 and 2 thanks to continued investment in energy Efficiency projects within our operations. Energy intensity — the total amount of energy consumed per labor hour worked — is also one of our key metrics with improvement goals.
Building Better Plants
In 2022, we joined The Better Buildings, Better Plants Program. Led by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), this national leadership initiative works with industry partners in the pursuit of a common goal — to promote greater energy efficiency in the U.S. industrial sector as a means to strengthen American manufacturing, save energy and money, create jobs, and protect our environment.
Absolute Metric Tons CO2e of GHG
2025 Goal
16% Reduction
from 2018 baseline
Our Progress
18.9% Reduction
total tons CO2e from 2018 baseline to 2022
- Scope 1
- Scope 2
RECYCLING & LANDFILL AVOIDANCE
We aspire to achieve zero waste from our operations. Our waste management program prioritizes a “reduce, reuse, and recycle” approach to divert waste from landfills, leverage waste as a resource, and increase recycling in our operations.
This includes expanding the use of our waste as a feedstock for third parties and introducing collection and handling systems that allow us to capture and reuse materials. We measure the percentage of all waste that we can reuse or recycle, the percentage of permissible waste1 that can be diverted from landfills, and the percentage of hazardous waste.
- Permissible waste is waste that is non-hazardous (per the local country definition).
Total Waste Recycling & Landfill Avoidance
2025 Goal Landfill Avoidance
97%
Our Progress
95.2%
2025 Goal Waste Recycling
80%
Our Progress
75.9%
- Total Waste Recycling Percentage (Including Metals)
- Landfill Avoidance Percentage
WATER MANAGEMENT
Water is an important natural resource and we acknowledge our responsibility to manage water carefully. Water is predominantly used in our consumable manufacturing processes. We monitor and measure absolute water use and water intensity (cubic meters of water used per hour worked).
Water Usage (Cubic Meters)
2025 Goal
14% Reduction
from 2018 baseline to 2025
Our Progress
25% Reduction
from 2018 baseline to 2022
Our India facility expanded its solar generation capacity from 200kWH to 700kWH, which increased solar to 15% of their total energy consumption from 3%. The additional energy generated by solar panels displaces approximately 400 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually
The Harris Products Group in Dzierzoniow, Poland, replaced a fossil-fuel burning gas heater with an alternative source of heat, and found a way to use the cooling system of their washer to provide heat in the winter. The use of the washer's cooling system for heat will save 86,400kWh of energy per year — energy which would have previously been provided by the burning of natural gas.
The Harris Product Group in Sao Paulo, Brazil, found a new supplier to buy the waste product from the casting process, turn it into a useful raw material, and sell it to a variety of other companies. Previously, casting process waste had to be treated by a third party before being sent to landfill. Approximately six tons of waste was treated annually at a cost of $1,000 and sent to landfill. Now, thanks to this enterprising supplier relationship, the six tons of waste is sold for about $12,000 with no waste going to landfill.
A cyclone was added to the ventilation unit at the facility in Zaragoza, Spain that allowed for flux coating lost during the stick electrode making process to be recovered. The cyclone separates dust particulates from the air and collects it in a container allowing for the dust to be reused. Not only does this help reduce waste from the electrode production process, it increases efficiency and saves money. The cyclone is estimated to collect 9,200 kilograms of coating that can be recycled and reused per year.
When an aluminum wash line needed to be purchased and installed in our facility in Guadalupe, Mexico, we recognized an opportunity to conserve water and save money. A new wash line, which utilizes a closed system alcohol wash containing an internal distillation process, will eliminate the use of 170,000 gallons of water per year and will result in savings of $98,169 per year.
In our Gebze, Turkey location a wire drawing originally had an independent tank for wire rinsing with a reserve capacity of 1 ton. The water in the reserve tank is sprayed onto the wire by the pump. Here, the water of the rinsed wire was being turned over many times, and too much water was consumed in an inefficient washing process. Thanks to a new design, combining Pickling, Coppering, and Rinsing water tanks, water consumption has been reduced by half, or up to 5.3 tonnes per day per machine.