The chemical company’s efforts ramped up when automotive production declined in the latter part of 2008. Many manufacturers found it necessary to decommission machines.
Rather than dispose of unused process oils and lubricants, Quaker helps its customers to recycle these fluids by capturing them and either transferring the fluids to other lines or other facilities, or re-formulating them for use in completely different processes. These changes eliminate the need waste disposal, and its related expenses, and allow fewer virgin materials to be purchased. For example, Quaker assisted one automotive manufacturer in recycling almost 15,000 gal of straight oil from a machining operation and reusing it within the facility, resulting in almost $100,000 of direct savings. In another instance, Quaker took hydraulic fluid from a decommissioned machine and transferred it for use at another of the customer's facilities, saving the customer around $20,000.
In addition to hard cost savings, there are obvious environmental benefits to recycling metalworking process fluids.
"It's our job to educate and counsel our customers on how to get the most value from their metalworking process fluids, which sometimes includes recycle and reuse vs. disposal," says Kyle Campbell, Quaker's senior director of metalworking and services in North America.
To learn more about Quaker's chemical management services, go to www.quakerchem.com.
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