Innovation & Sustainability
Arxada's Commitment to Sustainability: Innovating for a Greener Future
The chemical-pharmaceutical industry is facing the increasing challenge of reducing its environmental impact. Arxada, a leading specialty chemicals company, has recognized this challenge and is resolutely committed to an innovative and sustainable research and production location in Switzerland.
24.05.2024
Since its founding in 2021, the company has placed great emphasis on sustainability and proactively focuses on reducing its environmental footprint. Arxada's commitment to a more sustainable future is evident in various groundbreaking initiatives aimed at minimizing the company's environmental impact and using resources more efficiently.
Our Visp plant has a comprehensive decarbonization plan that has shown significant emission reduction after just three years. The use of low-CO2 energies, for example, helps to produce more sustainably, especially with a smaller CO2 footprint – which is extremely important for the Swiss population. One example that is currently being implemented at Arxada is a vapor compression, which significantly reduces the energy consumption for the production of niacin. The concept is equivalent to a heat pump. Energy is reused, which is "pumped" back to a usable temperature level with the help of electrical energy. The introduction achieves both a reduction in CO2 emissions and a 10-fold reduction in energy consumption. It is also a more efficient use of resources. Both integrate perfectly with the objectives of sustainability through circular economy and effective, proactive climate protection, to which Scienceindustries is committed at a national level.
Other projects related to sustainability and circular economy have already been identified and are being implemented, including further reductions in energy consumption through new technologies, heat pumps and heat integration, increasing recycling rates, especially of solvents and catalysts, and reducing aqueous and incineration waste and water consumption.
Challenges and future prospects
Despite these promising initiatives, companies like Arxada face numerous challenges. Increasing regulatory requirements, rising energy prices in Europe and grid costs in Switzerland, which have risen sharply compared to other regions, are making it difficult to implement sustainability measures and drive competition from the U.S. and Asia. Nevertheless, Arxada remains determined to continue its commitment to innovation and sustainability and to develop new solutions to address the industry's environmental challenges.
In this sense, Arxada strongly believes that an environmentally responsible future can only be achieved through collective efforts by companies, governments and society as a whole. By continuing its sustainability and environmental protection efforts, Arxada hopes to make a positive contribution to shaping a sustainable future.
Blog post by Olivier Lambrecht, President Nutrition, Care and Environmental, Arxada