9th Workshop AICP: Material Efficiency Laboratory to Enhance Resource Efficiency in SMEs

STENUM | News

The project “Material Efficiency Laboratory” was initiated in 2019 by the
Austrian Ministry of Climate, Environment, Innovation and Technology to
support pilot SME companies in increasing resource efficiency. As a result, a
strategy to reach out to a large number of enterprises. “Resource efficiency”
includes all raw and auxiliary materials, as well as the energy and water. At
first, a tool was developed and a manual providing supporting information.
The 47 questions address key elements of strategy, business models,
management system, processes, products, and services. Secondly, 10
assessments were carried out with manufacturing companies from different
sectors. The share of wasted materials ranged between 5% to 70% of
material input. 10 to 15% of the waste could be avoided or recycled by
awareness raising for optimum use of equipment, process control, better
equipment, and recycling. The companies appreciated concrete suggestions
and were open to discuss the use of alternative materials. Most of the
companies were already using product-related services. A total of 87
measures were identified. A number of communication activities were carried
out. Strategies were developed to further roll out resource efficiency to reach
a critical mass.

About STENUM

STENUM Environmental Consultancy and Research supports companies in increasing the resource efficiency and the continuous improvement so that they contribute to sustainable development.

STENUM GmbH © 2018

GTC

Webinar in the framework of REBE II

STENUM | News

The International Energy Agency describes energy efficiency as the most important field of action for global climate protection. Accordingly, as part of the REBE II project (funded by the Interreg V-A AT-HU program), a module “Reduce energy use through process integration” was offered as a webinar. The topic was discussed by Johannes Fresner for as a webinar with 20 participants on three evenings. The program included a systematic approach to the energy audit with the focus on efficiency-increasing measures, improvement of the control system, tips on optimizing heat supply, heat distribution, heat recovery, control of engines, Pumps, blowers, compressed air, refrigeration systems, lighting, as well as many examples. Finally, the pinch analysis was discussed as an instrument for optimizing heat recovery.
One participant’s feedback: “I think that from now on I will go through technical systems with a wiser mind. The relationship of an investment to a multiple of operating costs that can be saved is fascinating. ”

About STENUM

STENUM Environmental Consultancy and Research supports companies in increasing the resource efficiency and the continuous improvement so that they contribute to sustainable development.

STENUM GmbH © 2018

GTC

Important information to our customers

STENUM | News

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen!

We are still available for you. Please contact us at the usual email addresses, or on the mobile phones, as well as on +43 (0) 316 367156 – 0 .

For the time being, we are not doing any personal consultations.

Existing  contracts are processed reliably and on schedule.

We wish you and your employees health and patience for the coming days!

Best regards,
Your STENUM team

About STENUM

STENUM Environmental Consultancy and Research supports companies in increasing the resource efficiency and the continuous improvement so that they contribute to sustainable development.

STENUM GmbH © 2018

GTC

Workshop: Idea management

STENUM | News

Economic development requires the use of materials. The global increase in resource consumption with its consequences such as climate change, scarcity and volatility makes a change in resources, i.e. the absolute decoupling of economic development and material consumption indispensable. Resource efficiency, circular economy and bioeconomy are decisive paradigms for solutions, and manufacturing companies are key players.

The best ideas for optimization often come from the company itself! Targeted use of the knowledge and experience of employees in your company in order to continuously work on improving resource efficiency is often a challenge. The workshop presented methods and examples of success so that other companies can better use this potential in the future.

Idea management or company suggestion schemes can make a significant contribution to increasing operational material and energy efficiency and support your already implemented management systems.

The workshop on February 12th was part of the Material Efficiency Laboratory project, commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Climate Protection, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology and was organized by STENUM GmbH and Resource Forum Austria in cooperation with Regional Management Obersteiermark West, Kraft des Murtal and the Chamber of Commerce Styria.

About STENUM

STENUM Environmental Consultancy and Research supports companies in increasing the resource efficiency and the continuous improvement so that they contribute to sustainable development.

STENUM GmbH © 2018

GTC

Seminar on Circular Economy as a basis of the factory of the future in Kiev

STENUM | News

The European Commission is supporting the EU’s transition to a Circular Economy with a broad set of measures to maintain the value of products, materials and resources for as long as possible, while minimising the generation of waste.

The production phase has an impact on the environment, supply of resources and generation of waste. The circular economy starts at the very beginning of a product’s lifecycle – smart product design and production processes can help save resources, avoid inefficient waste management and create new business opportunities.
The whole Seminar will be available on Youtube soon.

About STENUM

STENUM Environmental Consultancy and Research supports companies in increasing the resource efficiency and the continuous improvement so that they contribute to sustainable development.

STENUM GmbH © 2018

GTC

Manual for the implementation of Low Carbon strategies

STENUM | News

The manual describes the elements of Low-Carbon Production, the relevant International conventions, and legal requirements in Serbia. Low-carbon technologies in industry are essential to achieve the EU’s climate and energy targets. The targets are defi ned in the 2020 package, 2030 framework, and 2050 roadmaps. These targets form the overall framework for the defi nition of strategies for the diff erent industrial sector. The approach described starts from explaining the carbon footprint of an organization, identifying the baseline and showing how to reduce the carbon footprint with the PDCA management cycle. It summarizes relevant standards for energy audits (Management commitment, policy, team, education, awareness) and gives hints for their practical implementation. It also describes the approach of carbon footprinting and presents a detailed approach to monitoring and controlling energy consumption. It further summarizes a set of technical options with a potential to increase energy efficiency in the processes of food processing industries. This relates to processes like refrigeration, heating, compressed air, cleaning. It describes emerging technologies, which have a potential to reduce energy consumption of processes. The carbon footprint can be reduced also by turning waste into a useful by product. In the food processing industry there is a big potential for the valorisation of by-products. In chapter 5, several options are analysed which relate to the use of by products to generate additional revenue. The chapter also shows how anaerobic fermentation can turn organic waste and concentrated wastewater into a source of energy. Turning waste into useful products or a replacement for raw materials is one of the key principles of Circular Economy. The last chapter summarizes the potential of renewable energy sources in Serbia. The important options are: straw and other agricultural waste as boiler fuel, hydropower, photovoltaic, solar thermal heating, and wind.

About STENUM

STENUM Environmental Consultancy and Research supports companies in increasing the resource efficiency and the continuous improvement so that they contribute to sustainable development.

STENUM GmbH © 2018

GTC

Presentation at e-nova 2019 “Circular Economy as a principle for production in the future”

STENUM | News

The e-nova took place on November 21st and 22nd at the University of Applied Sciences Burgenland. At this congress on sustainable technologies for energy supply, for buildings and the environment in general, Dr. Johannes Fresner introduced Circular Economy as a principle of the production of the future. Examples of closing the cycle in plastics and food processing were presented, as well as advice for companies: replacement of problematic chemicals that make recycling difficult, optimization of design, layout and internal recycling, as well as examples of new collaborations on the use of by-products and waste-to-energy.

About STENUM

STENUM Environmental Consultancy and Research supports companies in increasing the resource efficiency and the continuous improvement so that they contribute to sustainable development.

STENUM GmbH © 2018

GTC

STENUM has contributed to the new SUMP guidelines

STENUM | News

The Guidelines for developing and implementing a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (also known as the SUMP Guidelines) were originally published in 2013. Since then, many cities in Europe and around the world have developed SUMPs. Technological advances and the willingness of the general public to adopt new transport modes have provided for a a move from the traditional private car ownership model to the broad acceptance of new types of shared mobility.
The second edition of the SUMP Guidelines has taken on board the dynamic and rapidly evolving urban mobility challenges following extensive stakeholder consultation and contributions from experts. The authors have produced a number of new thematic guides and practitioner briefings to further aid in the development and implementation of SUMPs.
Within a consortium led by AREA (Fabio Tomasi, Trieste) STENUM has contributed to these topics by producing the SIMPLA guide fort he harmonisation of municipial energy plans and mobility concepts.
The Guidelines for developing and implementing a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (2nd Edition) can be downloaded here, along with all accompanying thematic guides:

Link to the guidelines

About STENUM

STENUM Environmental Consultancy and Research supports companies in increasing the resource efficiency and the continuous improvement so that they contribute to sustainable development.

STENUM GmbH © 2018

GTC

Our new cargo bike

STENUM | News

STENUM has a new Danish cargo bike. We are currently testing. A report will follow soon!

About STENUM

STENUM Environmental Consultancy and Research supports companies in increasing the resource efficiency and the continuous improvement so that they contribute to sustainable development.

STENUM GmbH © 2018

GTC

Paper in ECONOMICS OF ENTERPRISES: ECONOMICS AND MANAGEMENT OF ENTERPRISE ISSN 2226-3780, № 2/4(46), 2019

STENUM | News

After several years of growth, global investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy decreased in 2017. According to the International Energy Agency, there is a danger that it will slow down further. This paper examines possible reasons and appropriate measures to close the obvious investment gap. It is documented that different phases of the life cycle of industrial plants and infrastructure require different business strategies. A company with fully developed processes or products is more likely to look for cost-cutting opportunities, while companies with new products or processes have limited resources to invest outside core manufacturing activities. To conclude, supporting political  activities are proposed: a consistent reduction in transaction costs and targeted support for the development of innovative energy-efficient processes and infrastructure to reduce the risk of  investment.cycle.

Here you can download the paper

About STENUM

STENUM Environmental Consultancy and Research supports companies in increasing the resource efficiency and the continuous improvement so that they contribute to sustainable development.

STENUM GmbH © 2018

GTC