Foundry
The foundry consisting of four lines may produce up to 50,000 tons billets a year.
The plant is particularly designed to cast billets of varied chemical compositions. The whole foundry charge is intended solely for our own manufacturing needs.
In our foundry plant, we also have the technological capacity to produce billets in a way that allows lower carbon dioxide emissions.
Grupa Kęty SA obtained an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) Type III certificate for profiles extruded from low-emission billets from its own foundry. These ingots are produced from 6000 series alloys on the melting and casting line at the plant in Kęty. The low carbon footprint of billets results from the high share of aluminium scrap in remelting. In 2022, over 31 000 tons of waste was recycled in the installation. The plant selectively collects various types of scrap, thanks to which no fluxes adversely affecting the environment are used during secondary smelting. The process is accompanied by rigorous requirements as to the quality of purchased scrap, thanks to which no contaminated aluminium enters the smelting process, and harmful compounds that could pose a threat to the environment are not released into the air. By recycling aluminium, the plant saves significant amounts of energy needed to produce primary aluminium and reduces air and water pollution compared to producing aluminium from bauxite.
The carbon footprint of the profiles is only 3.3 kg CO2e/kg.
This value was determined based on the results of the product life cycle analysis (Life Cycle Assessment) in the declaration in accordance with the EN 15804 standard. The stages of the product life cycle ("cradle to gate") and greenhouse gas emissions related to the production, transport and processing of raw materials, consumption of fuels in production and transport, electricity and heat consumption (greenhouse gas emissions in all 3 ranges).
The document has been verified by an external expert and has the status of the European declaration "ECO-EPD verified". In addition, the certificate has been placed on the website of the Building Research Institute for sustainable construction, thanks to which they are recognized in the "green" building certification systems, e.g. BREEAM, LEED and DGNB.
In the Development Strategy of Grupa Kęty SA for the years 2021-2025, in addition to business goals, tasks have also been set to support global trends in decarbonisation and the circular economy.
