How can I make my conveyor operations more sustainable?

Lightweight and long-lasting conveyor chains that are tailored to your individual application and set-up can significantly lessen environmental impact by cutting down on the amount of raw material and energy consumed during manufacturing and operation.

More and more businesses around the world are waking up to the scarcity of natural resources and environmental impact of energy consumption. It’s a trend we’ve noticed among many of our customers in the paper and pulp, sawmill, energy, steel and cement industries, who are starting to ask questions about how we can help them become more sustainable.

With our Scandinavian heritage, I believe we are ahead of the competition in this respect. Environmental care has long been at the heart of the FB Group and we make it our everyday mission to eliminate waste for customers.

So what’s the FB secret to sustainability?

Designing products to be as efficient and long lasting as possible.

Cutting-edge materials 

This process starts with the choice of material. Our sister company FB Kedjor in Sweden collaborates very closely with Nordic steel company SSAB. Our Swedish colleagues kindly approach the SSAB team with demands from our customers, such as a lighter weight or greater corrosion resistance, and they test new materials in our chain applications. This makes a big difference.

If we can produce stronger chain and wear guides with less material, we reduce the volume of iron ore we use and, therefore, the impact its mining and transport has on the environment. Smaller volumes also mean less water and energy is used during manufacturing.

Then once these lighter components are installed in a customer’s conveyor, they can be driven by a smaller motor that consumes less electricity.  

If we can also design products to have a longer service life, we further cut down on the quantity of raw materials used in our industry, and the volume of steel that has to be recycled as fewer chains and wear guides are replaced. 

Optimised for you

Tailoring our products to each customer’s application and set-up also increases their efficiency as no material or energy is wasted unnecessarily. Across the FB Group, our engineers have deep application knowledge, as well as maintenance and process skills, allowing them to understand the requirements inside and out and design the optimum solution for the job.

Then our experienced installation team guarantees the solution is fitted properly and runs as it should. But that’s not the end of it. Every so often, we can carry out upgrade inspections to measure and demonstrate conveyor performance improvements. 

Responsible business is profitable

There can be a misconception sometimes that care for the environment comes at the cost of profit. But in our experience of working with conveyors, this just isn’t true. Conveyor operators can indeed take responsibility for the planet while maintaining a healthy bottom line.

Working with us to ensure the right product in the right application may involve some investment initially, but the combination of lower energy and replacement costs will deliver a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) in the long run. This is something everyone can get behind.

Please get in touch to discuss how we can help drive your sustainability agenda through lighter weight and longer lasting conveyor chains.