
Photo courtesy of Cronimet Holding GmbH
Germany-based stainless steel recycling company Cronimet Holding GmbH has added an electric-powered material handling machine to its fleet operating at the Cronimet Ferroleg GmbH facility in Karlsruhe, Germany.
Cronimet is using an EXP 5020ZE material handler made by Italy-based Solmec S.p.A., which it says is part of its effort to convert its fleet to environmentally friendly machines. Cronimet also has committed to a net zero target by 2050 and joined the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) earlier this year.
“An important building block on the way to this goal is the changeover of the machine fleet to environmentally friendly, electrically powered material handlers,” the company says. The Cronimet Ferroleg site in Karlsruhe has nine material handlers in operation, which together handle about 140,000 tons of stainless steel scrap and other alloyed scrap annually.
The Solmec EXP 5020ZE is the second fully electrically operating excavator in Karlsruhe, according to Cronimet, and it can be used in sorting mode for up to 10 hours before its battery needs to be recharged.
“I am pleased that we are driving forward the electrification of the machine fleet with the new material handler at the site of the largest subsidiary of the Cronimet Group,” says Marijo Zeljko, CEO of Cronimet’s European locations.
“We are currently planning to replace the old diesel-powered material handlers with new, environmentally friendly models at all European sites of the Cronimet Group."
"With the Solmec material handler, we are relying on innovative and robust technology. It can be used cable-free, completely flexible, and is characterized by high reliability," says Marco Merico, who is part of Cronimet’s Team Technics technical consulting group helping Cronimet procure low-emissions machines in Europe.
Cronimet estimates that by using the Solmec EXP 5020ZE, approximately 30 tons of CO2 can be eliminated per year compared with using a diesel-powered machine.
The Solmec handler has a 40-kilowatt electric motor. The back end of the machine hosts two lead-acid battery packs of 930 amperes at 120 volts each. These can be exchanged for other batteries if necessary, so the machine “is basically able to work through without major delays,” according to Cronimet.
The Solmec EXP 5020ZE also has an energy recovery system that recovers energy through brake regeneration when the slewing system brakes, storing it in the main battery.
BVG Baumaschinen GmbH of Dachwig, Germany, worked with Solmec to provide the EXP 5020ZE. BVG also will handle all maintenance and service work as well as necessary repairs on the new material handler."
The Cronimet Holding Group, founded in 1980, has more than 1,500 employees at 68 locations globally, including nearly a dozen offices and scrap yards in the United States.
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