Swiss zinc to become sustainable

Mega Gossau AG, based in the canton of St.Gallen, intends to procure its most important raw material of  environmentally harmful zinc from a sustainable source in future. The National Resource Efficiency Network Reffnet.ch) reported that initial tests have been successful. These used zinc that had been extracted from filter ash in refuse incineration plants. Kebag AG operates a FLUREC (flue ash recycling) plant in Zuchwil in the canton of Solothurn.

According to information provided, the refuse incineration industry is currently reviewing the option of building a bigger plant in a project by SwissZinc. The aim is to raise the share of zinc recovered from recycled sources. Worldwide, it is currently 40 percent, with the rest derived from traditional zinc mines. Production, processing and transport over the oceans of the world puts a great strain on the environment.

In a pilot, Mega had an ZAMAK 5 alloy of sustainable zinc made out of the FLUREC plant by an Italian zinc alloy manufacturer. An extensive quality analysis of the door handles cast in this way found “that the sustainable material is in no way inferior to traditional zinc”. This pilot project was the result of an action plan conceived by Mega AG together with an expert from Reffnet.ch and the physicist Alberto Cerri. Mega’s objective is now to convert production to sustainable zinc in the medium term.