MechChem Africa May-June 2022

Bearing remanufacture supports circular economy

SKF is seeing rapid double-digit growth for bearing remanufacturing services compared to two years ago. The main reason for choosing remanufactured bearings over new ones has historically been cost, but this has changed as companies seek more sustainable production processes to support a circular economy. R emanufacturing bearing units increases the usability of the bearings and delivers significant environmental benefits. The carbon footprint of a remanufactured bearing can be up to 90% less than a new one, depending on the amount of remanufacturing required, and the process consumes up to 90% less energy.

Quadrupled sales In 2020, SKF in Sweden invested in the Circular Economy concept. A local unit close to customers was established to enable circular solu tions with the capacity to remanufacture 13 000 bearings per year. Focusing not only on remanufacturing bearings, but also onbearing units, bearing housings, sealing solutions and lubricationmanagement, sales have quadrupled in two years and demand continues to increase. “The SKFCircular EconomyCentre offers customers a comprehen sive service where we quantify green value, such as reduced energy consumption, CO 2 impact and reduced lubricant consumption, with economic value, such as increased production and reduced costs. To support this, we have developed calculation models that show how many kilos of CO 2 emissions the customer can avoid by becoming a partner with SKF,” says Westerlund. Today, SKF has more than 15 remanufacturing centres across the global, with SKF South Africa having offered the service since 2008. www.skf.com

SKF provides remanufacturing services for bearings as part of its offeringof trouble-free rotating shaft solutions. Hannes Leopoldseder, from the SKF remanufacturing unit in Steyr, Austria, says: “Double digit growth for our remanufacturing services is coming fromall major industries such as metals, pulp and paper, mining and energy across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.” Although energy and material efficiency are obvious, for most customers cost benefits used tobe crucial in thedecision to remanufac ture bearings. This has changed. As a result of the 2016 Paris Climate Agreement, many countries’ ambitions to accelerate incentives for a circular economy, are showing tangible results in the market. More companies are considering how their entire supply chain can help reduce their overall impact on the climate. The desire to change from a linear to a more circular economy is significant. “The focus on sustainabilityhas increased significantly, among large and small companies. We are receiving more questions from custom ers about sustainable services such as remanufacturing as part of the need to maintain a sustainable operation in the production facility”, says Leopoldseder. JanneWesterlund,HeadofEngineering, Services&Solutions for the Swedish industrialmarket, says: “We are identifying great business op portunities in industrial markets. Combining sustainable products and services in a cohesive offer to reduce the impact on the environment is increasingly requested by our customers. This is evidenced by a rapid growth in sales for remanufactured bearings over the past two years.

SKF bearing remanufacturing services’ rapid double-digit growth supports the circular economy.

SKF’s bearing remanufacturing facility in South Africa.

8 ¦ MechChem Africa • May-June 2022

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