We melt and cast our alloys in-house and also have the ability to recycle our own metals.

Composite films and auxiliary production materials are reprocessed by our supply and waste disposal partners. 

In general, our products are well suited to recycling. Waste disposal companies are also happy to collect them as reusable waste products from our customers' sites. We are happy to assist if you have any questions! 

In addition, EppsteinFOILS plays an important role in climate protection thanks to its production methods with a focus on sustainability - by using raw materials mainly originating from recycling. 

1. Recycling of raw materials

For raw materials of the greatest importance to us, as for example lead, we predominantly use secondary lead from recycled car batteries. Last year, secondary lead accounted for 82% of all the lead we used. 

Reusing waste metals uses very little energy because of the low melting point of 327°C. The energy consumption of our production process is about 90% lower than that for the production of primary lead obtained from ores. Because of the close vicinity of recycling smelters, there is no need for long-distance transport of lead ores from producing countries such as China, Australia or Canada. Thanks to the use of recycled material, natural ore deposits can be saved and preserved for future generations. In this way, valuable natural resources are kept, as less of the primary material is used. 

Efficient recycling systems ensure a process in which contaminations are removed and recycled lead is produced without any loss of quality. The process can be repeated indefinitely. 

Our given target is to produce our products exclusively from secondary material. These can then be recycled again and again. In that way, it is almost impossible to find our products on landfill sites and we make a valuable contribution towards the preservation of recourses, as the consumption of raw materials from mining is considerably reduced.

2. Production wastes and residual materials

The responsible treatment of production wastes and residual materials, insofar as these are unavoidable, is a high priority for us.

Wastes and residual materials are disposed of via approved companies. The sorting and separating processes used by our waste-disposers now already permit 80% recycling.

Furthermore, we are working intensively on the substitution of operating materials (e.g. solvents and adhesives, as are generally commonly used in laminating) with more environmentally-friendly alternatives. In this connection, the proportion of environmentally-friendly, water-based solvents and adhesives was increased to over 90% in 2011.

3. Energy use

Gas and electricity are our most important primary energy sources. As far as electricity is concerned, in addition to favourable purchasing conditions, we also pay attention that an adequately high proportion comes from renewables. At the present, this proportion stands at 21% and thus above the industry average, which is 15%.