STAEDTLER manufacturing processes are continually being optimized from an ecological standpoint – from waste prevention to markedly reduced water and energy consumption. This is demonstrated through the recirculation of cooling water as well as the processing of waste water in their own in-house waste water treatment plants. Valuable energy is also reclaimed by heat recovery systems. Especially proud that their “waste” is used as raw materials for other branches of industry. For example, the recyclable coloured pencil leads are used in brick production. The graphite portion of the blacklead waste is used to produce high-quality industrial steel. Recycling Wherever production takes place, residual waste is bound to occur. To make sensible use of these residual materials, STAEDTLER has developed processes that reintroduce these materials back into the processing chain so they can be used again. This type of recycling can especially be seen in our Lumocolor production: in the production of the Lumocolor pen barrels, a certain amount of unavoidable injection moulding waste occurs. This waste material is collected, granulated and a certain portion is added to new material. Naturally we ensure that the recycled portion has no negative influence on product quality. Every STAEDTLER product fulfills the maximum recycling quota and is thus environmentally compatible. The following areas are continually examined with regard to ecological efficiency: ■ Waste management ■ Waste prevention ■ Internal and external recycling concepts ■ Own wastewater treatment ■ Energy management – Recycling of wood chips – Heat recovery – Recuperative firing (energy savings in lead kiln) – Use of natural gas instead of fuel oil – Noise reduction ■ Own solvent recovery ■ Emergency management ■ Recycling within the manufacturing processes, such as for plastics and lead compound material ■ Continual process optimisation ■ Value stream mapping ■ Research and development as well as quality management
