The Andritz Group is committed to promoting environmental protection and conserving natural resources. Due to the standardization of the core processes, all plants and systems delivered to different Andritz customers around the world comply with the highest environmental standards. This is essential as most countries have implemented comprehensive and stringent environmental constraints, such as mandatory environmental impact assessments.

In the Pulp & Paper Business Area, for example, the effective use of resources is one of the basic conditions for sustainable production. Andritz developments in yield improvement, reduction of chemical consumption in bleaching, water savings, waste recycling, and energy efficiency contribute markedly to sustainability. For example, the process of making pulp and paper requires large volumes of water. In the last 20 years, technologies developed by Andritz have reduced the amount of water required to produce a ton of pulp or paper by 60%. Another example is the recycling of chemicals. Andritz systems help customers recover and reuse up to 99% of the chemicals used in making pulp. This protects the environment and leads to essential cost savings for the customers.

In 2004, Andritz successfully completed the chemical recovery plant – one of the world’s largest – at UPM-Kymmene’s Wisaforest mill, Finland. In spite of the fact that pulp production at the mill increased by about 200,000 t/a, fossil carbon dioxide emissions were reduced to being almost non-existent, and the electricity generated from black liquor combustion (by-products of the pulping process) satisfies the requirements of all production plants in the mill area. Thus, the technologies developed by Andritz help customers to further reduce emissions and to maximize electricity production.

In the Rolling Mills and Strip Processing Lines Business Area, several processes have been developed which reduce or even eliminate emissions of substances harmful to the environment. Andritz systems are designed to maximize the use of, and to recycle, such materials as rinse waters, rolling emulsions, and pickling acids. For example, Andritz developed a special process for recycling the electrolyte used in electrolytic pickling.  

The process eliminates the hexavalent chromium formed during the pickling operation. The development of the “no-rinse” coater enables the application of chemicals to the steel strip to be carried out in a closed chemical fluid circuit, thus preventing contamination of the environment.

The Environment and Process Business Area supplies complete process lines which convert liquid sewage sludge into granulate. With a calorific value of approximately 10 to 13 MJ/kg, this granulate can be used as a substitute for fossil fuels in heat and power generation systems, reducing CO₂ emissions. With its own optimization of the combined drying / incineration process of using dried granulate as fossil fuel and the energy generated in the incineration process as heat for the drying process, a self-sustaining reduction of CO₂ is achieved.  

The Feed Technology Business Area is the world market leader for plants and systems for the production of environmentally-friendly bio-fuel pellets out of renewable fuel materials. Andritz equipment is used to produce biofuel pellets from wood, peat, and agricultural by-products. In this way, highly valuable fuels are generated from surplus materials, which would otherwise have to be disposed of. Andritz also supplies pelleting equipment for industrial and household waste, which offers an environmentally-friendly alternative to fossil fuels in heating power plants.

The Hydraulic Machines Business Area has been providing hydropower plants with modern equipment and extensive services for more than 130 years now. Hydropower is the leading source of renewable energy, supplying the world with about one-fifth of its electricity. It is clean, leaves behind no waste and, unlike the combustion of fossil fuel, neither emits pollutants nor dangerous greenhouse gases.