Helbig & Lang - The surface finishing specialist

Environment

Sustainability and the responsible handling of natural resources are inseparable components of successful economic activities. The company itself as well as the management and every single employee can provide a little but quite important contribution to the protection of the environment.

In painting business unhealthy and micro pollutant materials are used. Our goal is to analyze the affected processes and optimize them in a manner that the caused pollution is minimized to an inevitable level.

The European VOC-regulations (Volatile Organic Compounds), in combination with the German 31st BImSchV (“Bundes-Immissionsschutz-Verordnung”), restrict the emission of VOCs which are part of paints, thinners or appear as pure solvents. Due to our size, Helbig & Lang is obligated to provide an annually VOC-balance. The compliance with the permitted value is reached by the company.

Application of environmentally friendly painting systems

Beyond the governmental regulations we aim to reduce the percentage of harmful materials. The used materials and the technical processes are usually fixed by customer specifications or by regulations of the manufacturer. Deviations are generally not permitted. Nevertheless we are trying to convince our customers of the advantages of the application of environmentally friendly painting systems. Examples are powder coatings, water-based painting systems or (ultra-)high-solid-paints with a high percentage of solid content. Every time we have the option to choose, we apply environmentally friendly products.

Steady reduction of the VOC-balance

For the cleaning and the degreasing of the parts mainly water-based systems are applied so that there are no solvent emissions. For the change of color shade it is necessary to clean the painting spray gun with solvent-containing mediums. These are collected and recycled through distillation machines in order to lead them back into the circulation. Even through these methods we were able to steadily reduce the solvent percentage in our VOC-balances.

“Prevention – before recycling – before removal”

Regarding the arise of waste we act according the principle “prevention – before recycling – before removal”. This is shown for example in the usage of spray processes with high transfer efficiency (HVLP – High Volume Low Pressure), the multiple usage of painting drums and the heat recovery plant of our painting cabins. In our pickling plant the polluted water is recycled in the neutralization plant and can be lead back into the water circulation.

Power generation from renewable energies

Our two photovoltaic systems, each with 182.5 kW (total 365 kW) on the roofs of the halls at the Worms site, generate approx. 335,000 kWh of electricity per year, of which approx. 60 % is used for our own consumption. By generating electricity from renewable energies, more than 200 tons of CO2 emissions are avoided each year.