Turkish Steel Producer Ergin Makine Going Green

Ergin Makine, a specialised steel producer based in Istanbul, Turkey, gained accreditation as an environmentally friendly business. Supported by the European Union, the EBRD has helped the company achieve this goal and gain ISO certification.

Ergin Makine, which has been serving in many engineering fields for more than 50 years, is taking firm steps towards the future with its innovative technologies and expert staff. All their business activities are carried out with the best quality materials and the best workmanship available in today’s market.

The company provides services in the field of steel manufacturing, assembly, complete mechanical service and recyclable counterweight (Greenweight) production for industrial and commercial enterprises.

 

Greenweight in brief

• It is produced from scrap metal recycling.
• It protects the environment with low CO₂ emission (between 24 – 32 times) in production.
• It contributes to the circular economy with its environmentally friendly raw material.
• Product density has a value of 7 gr/cm³.
• It has a corrosion-resistant and paint-free surface.
• It offers a beautiful appearance with its stylish and ergonomic design.

Greenweight is basically an economical and environmentally friendly alternative product in elevator filler weight, building maintenance units (BMU) counterweight and crane counterweight production.

Greenweight is the metal balance weights obtained by using metal particles that emerge after manufacturing in the manufacturing industry. Metal particles are pressed into blocks of desired size. Then, the blocks are covered with sheet metal and protection against impacts is provided.

The density of the Greenweight balance weights varies between 6.50 gr/cm3 and 7.00 gr/cm3 according to the geometry of the weights.

Greenweight weights obtained by using various scrap metal find use in many sectors.

Innovative and environment friendly counterweight

Consumption is increasing rapidly with the increasing world population and living standards. While consumption is increasing, natural resources do not increase to meet our needs. Access to the resource becomes difficult and increases the cost of resources. At this point, ‘resource efficiency’ gains importance.

Efficient use of resources brings sustainability, namely the circular economy. To define the circular economy, recycling is the recycling of waste materials into the economy.

Thanks to the innovative production technology Ergin Makine has developed, Greenweight products consist of 80-94% waste material and are produced in the production phase without any heat treatment. In this way, it reduces greenhouse gas emissions that harm the nature.

Greenweight weights contribute greatly to the circular economy as an innovative and environmentally friendly product with low cost.

“At first, we were just exploring ways to decrease the costs of our products,” says CEO Okan Ergin. “But then we decided to create a product that would bring not only economical value, but which would also contribute to a cleaner and more liveable world,” he notes. The company started looking into manufacturing a counterweight with a density close to that of cast material (7.10 g/cm³) but at a lower cost, and the idea of compressing scrap metal under high pressure was born.

Ergin Makine’s patented counterweight contributes to the environment on multiple levels. It is manufactured from recycled scrap metal collected from local sources, and it is energy efficient: the production process does not use any heat treatment and requires minimal energy use, as opposed to regular counterweights used in the industry.

Moreover, the machinery used in production could also be considered green: the company built it themselves, avoiding the carbon emissions associated with transporting equipment to its production facilities from abroad.

Through the EBRD’s Advice for Small Business programme, Ergin Makine worked with a sustainability consultant to quantify the environmental impacts of Greenweight and compare its carbon footprint with equivalent products on the market.

“The project taught us the importance and environmental effectiveness of proximity to raw materials, and we are taking this into account as we decide on the location of our new facility,” adds Okan Ergin. Similarly, the company learned that dyed sheet coatings are better for the environment than the galvanised sheet coatings they normally use against corrosion, and Ergin Makine now plans to use the former.

At the end of the project, the company received appropriate certifications for Greenweight’s Life Cycle Assessment and Environmental Products Declaration, showing the environmental benefits of Greenweight over comparable counterweights in the market. As a result, Ergin Makine can now proudly call itself a green business and share the environmental and sustainability benefits of its Greenweight technology with a wider audience.

Ergin Makine is just one of the many companies the EBRD supports with their green ambitions in Turkey. Via its Turkey Materials Marketplace and Turkey Circular Economy Platform (TCEP), funded by Austria, the Netherlands, Turkey, and the Taiwan-Business EBRD-Technical Cooperation Fund, the EBRD helps companies like Ergin Makine exchange underutilised materials, turning one company’s waste into raw materials for another.

From mining by-products to repurposing scrap textiles and even eggshell powder, more than 32,000 tons of waste materials have been kept out of landfill by the 200 companies using TCEP. It’s a circular economy solution which not only enables a business to turn its waste into a potential source of income, but which also provides practical solutions, incentives, training, and financial opportunities for businesses looking to accelerate their transition to green.