Waste treatment

Minimizing heavy crushers CO2 emissions by 80%

Case Lassila & Tikanoja Kerava waste treatment facility

Consistent reliability is an absolute requirement in continuous waste treatment operations. L&T achieved high level of reliability while minimizing hydraulic oils CO2-emissions together with Fluid Intelligence.

Lassila & Tikanoja Oyj (L&T) is a pioneering company in the field of circular economy services, offering its services to the real estate, environmental, and industrial sectors. The company's mission is to manage its customers' material and by-product streams with high added value in circulation. At the same time, its own production processes are continuously developed to support circular economy goals. A good example of this is the significant reduction in waste treatment machine oil changes and the minimization of CO2 emissions by maintaining the performance of the lubrication oils.

At L&T Environmental Services' Kerava waste facility, a large amount of various wastes are processed annually, with the majority being treated for reuse. The facility has several heavy crushers and baling machines with a total of 3200 liters of extremely heavy-duty hydraulic oils.

Towards significant reduction in CO2 emissions

Already in 2018, it was noticed at the waste facility that the visual condition of the oils was surprisingly good, and the oil changes were a significant annual cost factor. Starting from 2019, the condition of new oils was closely monitored in two heavily used locations using Fluid Intelligence's Fluid Eye® remote monitoring system, while traditional oil analyses were used for four other locations.

The annual operating hours of the heavily used crushers are approximately 1,500 hours. According to the recommended average oil change frequency by the equipment manufacturer, the oil change quantity for one machine would be three times a year (Chart 1), and for the other five machines, it would be once a year. Following the traditional operating model, the annual consumption of oil for the machine requiring three oil changes per year would be 1,500 liters, and for the machines requiring one oil change per year, it would be 2,700 liters. This would result in a total of 4,200 liters of waste oil annually and 16,800 liters during the four-year monitoring period.

The actual oil consumption at the waste facility has significantly decreased during the monitoring period, reducing waste oil generation by 13,400 liters by spring 2023. This represents a total saving of over 40 tons of CO2e (Table 1). At the time of writing, the annual figure is 10 tons of CO2e, with the annual emissions continuing to decrease.

Oil performance and machine reliability remains high

During the four-year monitoring period, it was observed that the condition of the oils in use at the locations remained comparable to new oils with minor proactive actions. In one location, an oil change was conducted for comparison, and it was found that the oil change did not improve the oil's condition or performance compared to the previous state.

The reliability of the equipment has been consistently high throughout the monitoring period, and there have been no hydraulic system-related failures in the monitored locations. Good reliability is an absolute requirement because continuous waste flows rely on the dependable operation of the treatment process.

Benefits of being a pioneer

L&T Environmental Services' Kerava waste facility is a true pioneer in Finland regarding resource-efficient oil maintenance. The performance of the crushers' hydraulics is excellent, and the monitoring solutions implemented in collaboration with Fluid Intelligence help to perform only necessary oil changes well in advance. This operational model has brought significant benefits and savings.

• CO2e emissions have decreased by 80% for the entire fleet under review

• The performance of the equipment and lubrication oils has remained excellent

• Resource efficiency has resulted in cost savings 

Small operational changes have produced clear benefits in terms of resource savings and CO2 emissions. The reduction of CO2 emissions by nearly 80% has not meant an increase in costs but rather nearly equal financial savings. At the same time, the production reliability has remained high, improving overall productivity. The benefits achieved over the past four years have been significant, and the transition to proactive maintenance strategy supported by the Fluid Eye® service has been an excellent decision, according to Lauri Repokivi, Supervisor of L&T's Recycling Services.

The results obtained at L&T Environmental Services' Kerava site were expected and provide a good example of what can be achieved through effective monitoring and sensible proactive maintenance. The economic resource savings are synergistic with the environmental benefits, making the actions twice as profitable, as reasoned by Mikko Oksanen from Fluid Intelligence.

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Reducing oil consumption is an important step for the environment. Traditional mineral oil is a non-renewable natural resource, so every liter not changed is an environmentally friendly act. By utilizing existing investments wisely, significant savings can be achieved.