Ceramitec 2009: Focus on material and resource efficiency in the raw materials section

Material efficiency has now become as much a buzz phrase as energy efficiency, which has long been a focal point in process technology. The analogy is logical, because the efforts of the raw materials industry at EU level have been just as focused as the energy saving programmes – on the recycling of primary raw materials, for example. From this overarching perspective, resources within the EU must be dealt with carefully and access to raw materials outside the EU must also be ensured for the future.
 
Of course, ceramics manufacturers consider material efficiency to be primarily an important cost issue, as they have to be able to increase their international competitiveness. In addition to studying ways to recycle materials in their in-house manufacturing processes, or at least to recover a resource that can be used in other processes through recycling, the subject has now become very important – and not just from an environmental point of view.
 
A new approach, which also poses new challenges for control technology, is resource-efficient processing machinery and processes. Contemporary monitoring systems in ceramic process technology enable data analyses to be carried out on the material flows, and these identify starting points for further potential savings.
 
In addition there are increasingly high expectations on the performance of ceramic raw materials and compositions, because the properties of the raw materials directly affect the level of efficiency in each individual process stage. This has led to greater efforts to characterise natural raw materials more precisely in terms of their properties.

The supply of ready-made bodies or partial mixes remains an important topic in the raw materials business, because when cost structures are precisely analysed, outsourcing these responsibilities is often beneficial for ceramics manufacturers. Through implementing all these measures raw materials companies have now become technology experts as well as suppliers of materials.  
The fact that this segment and the knowledge connected with it plays an important role in the ceramics industry can also be seen in the way this year's CERAMITEC has developed. As at the previous events the raw materials sector is traditionally strong and takes up most of Hall A6. In addition to the joint stand from China, key market leaders like Zschimmer & Schwarz, Stephan Schmidt, Colores Ceramicos de Tortosa, Ferro, Sibelco (formerly WBB Minerals), Goerg & Schneider and Imerys are coming to Munich.