HERMA self-adhesive materials: Optimised production brings environmental rewards

• HERMA reduces specific energy consumption by 50% in ten years.
• Dry ice replacing solvents as roller cleaning agent.
• Recycling release liner contributes to decrease in CO2 emissions.

Self-adhesive materials specialist HERMA continues to align its production operations with energy-saving and environmental requirements. "By taking action on several fronts, we have achieved a 50% reduction in the energy consumption per square metre in the last ten years," explains HERMA managing director Dr. Thomas Baumgärtner. "Apart from the environmental benefits, our endeavours have also enabled us to absorb a portion of the dramatically increased raw material costs." One of the major contributors to the improvement was the programme to modify the boiler house, which generates production heat and supplies the heating system. "By switching from oil to gas alone, we lowered the CO2 emissions per square metre of self-adhesive material by 25%. The new coating plant which was commissioned in 2008 and ranks among the most modern of its kind in the world, was designed from the outset with a heat recovery system to preheat the dryer intake air. The dryers themselves are directly fired by gas. The former process of heating and pumping thermal oil through a system of pipes was extravagant by comparison. We intend to introduce further energy economies and efficiency improvements in the next few years – if only to cushion the impact of raw material price inflation," comments Dr. Baumgärtner

Dry ice replaces solvents
At the same time, HERMA is analysing its production operations to identify scope for making its processes even easier to the environment. Instead of solvents, for example, it is now using dry ice to clean some of its applicator and deflection rollers. Small particles of dry ice, blasted at high pressure, remove contamination from the rollers. "Since 2009 we have substantially reduced the use of conventional cleaning chemicals," explains Dr. Baumgärtner. The collaborative venture with Cycle4Green (C4G) is also making good progress. HERMA was the first self-adhesive material manufacturer in the world to join the initiative to recycle silicone-coated release liner. "Over the past two years we recycled a total of 351 metric tons of liner paper, which corresponds to a CO2 reduction of 808 metric tons," remarks Dr. Baumgärtner. HERMA expects to post similar figures for 2012 as well. "Although the favourable impact on the global climate is, of course, modest," says the managing director, "it was important to us to support the programme from the start and to encourage other companies to take part. By working together, we can make a tremendous difference."