MAKOLA, Sri Lanka—Trelleborg Wheel Systems is planning to fully re-engineer its Sri Lanka facility's steam production process through the introduction of an advanced biomass boiler.
The investment, Trelleborg said, will reduce the plant's environmental footprint and improve production efficiency. Set for operation in June, the biomass-fired boiler will reduce CO2 emission by more than 90 percent, compared to the furnace oil boiler currently in use, Trelleborg claimed.
The manufacturing plant, Trelleborg said, currently produces more than 11,000 metric tons of CO2 equivalents each year and consumes 3.5 million liters of furnace oil in the same time frame. With the new biomass system, the carbon footprint will be reduced to less than 1,000 tons of CO2 equivalent, the company noted.
"The investment is in line with the company target to address the environmental performance across the entire tire life cycle, from the design to the end of life, to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of production processes and products," Paolo Pompei, president of Trelleborg Wheel Systems said in a statement. "The introduction of a new biomass-fired boiler will also improve transformation cost efficiency, reducing the impact of raw material fluctuation for customers, while maintaining product competitiveness in the market."
The Makola plant, near Colombo, manufactures solid tires for the materials-handling and port industries, as well as pneumatic tires for light agricultural applications.