When thinking about sustainability in the cable industry, Maillefer considers where we can have the most impact on carbon footprint. Our own actions as an equipment provider are clearly modest compared to the effects we can have on the cable manufacturing end. In cable production, the materials processed during the extrusion phase easily represents 95% of the carbon footprint generated. This is because cable making consumes much material. At Maillefer, we can have the biggest impact by helping our cable-making customers achieve their sustainability goals. Our shared goal is to make more with less.
Keeping tight control on consumables
The typical raw materials entering the cable making process are metals for conductors and screens, plastic for insulation and jackets, as well as more specialized material like optical fibers, strength members and tapes to name a few. Utilities commonly include electricity, cooling water, compressed air and in some cases nitrogen.
When looking at these inputs, minimizing their use is crucial. Minimizing use in our processes normally means tackling overconsumption and avoiding scrap creation. The most sustainable plastic material is the plastic material that was not used as over-consumption in a cable. Same goes for the utilities, a kWh not consumed is the most sustainable approach.
Saving on materials
Avoiding over-consumption and minimizing scrap is in our DNA, this is what Maillefer is known for. Regardless of the cable manufacturing extrusion-related segment we have a lot to offer, leading solutions world-wide.
Helical grooved forced feeding extruders with the best-in-class stability and linearity for LV and telecom insulation, fiber optic cable secondary coating, and jacketing of most cables. With the help of these capabilities, our customers are tackling waste through overconsumption, start-up & stop scrap, as well as defective quality.
In MV & HV cable production our technology enables our customers to run extra-long production runs. They can save on start-up & stop scrap with our CV tube heating and cooling technology. For land and subsea installations, they have the ability to manufacture the most difficult EHV AC and DC cables.
Cooperative efforts in a modern cable making world means making more with less to achieve common sustainability goals, starting today.
Markus Boström
Director, Technology
markus.bostrom@maillefer.net
