From LEDs to microbes, bio-polymers to charging stations

Lights that reduce energy consumption and improve visibility. A new bio-renewable rubber based on sugarcane feedstock. A bio-exhaust system that uses microbes to eliminate solvent vapors. Participation in a national network of electric vehicle charging stations. Low emission sealing solutions.

These are just a few of the programs and products that Freudenberg-NOK Sealing Technologies is pursuing in order to lessen its impact on the environment, help customers offer more efficient vehicles and help build a community coalition focused on making alternate energy a reality. The company, which codified the need for environmental responsibility by a Guiding Principle more than 160 years ago, salutes Earth Day throughout the year by encouraging its employees to explore innovations and processes that not only improve quality but also address its carbon footprint.

"Sustainability is about more than checking a box. It must be founded on the ability to develop new techniques, innovations and knowledge," said Dr. Theodore G. Duclos, president, Freudenberg-NOK.  

Freudenberg-NOK's Northfield, N.H. facility has set a new benchmark for facility energy efficiency within the company. The plant recently replaced all of its fluorescent lights with new energy- efficient LED lighting. The new lighting will save the facility $40,000.00 per year while doubling the light output, said Plant Manager Gary Plummer. The program has been so successful that it is being rolled out to other facilities across the Freudenberg network. This system also incorporated a computer system that can adjust each individual lighting fixtures output level and shut it down completely when there are no occupants. 

Freudenberg's facility in Reichelsheim, Germany has installed a bio-exhaust cleaning facility that relies upon the voracious appetites of microscopic creatures to neutralize and eliminate noxious solvent vapors from the company's metal cleaning processes. The system sends exhaust streams through an active carbon filter until they become the consistency of water. Then the mixture is spread over bark mulch housed in four large aluminum containers. The mulch is heavily populated with microbes that use the exhaust content as a source of energy and carbon, transforming the mixture into compounds that are harmless from a health standpoint.

Energy used to run the system is low, costs are minimal and the bark mulch only needs to be changed every five years. Other company plants in Europe, including the Kufstein facility in Austria, use comparable bio-exhaust systems to eliminate industrial waste and turn it into harmless byproducts.