In 2021, as part of the Requalification Water Meter Service, JANZ reused 32 thousand water meter bodies, equivalent to approximately 32 tons of brass. With this reuse, JANZ was able to avoid the emission of about 12 thousand kilos of CO21 into the atmosphere, the equivalent of 19 round-trip flights between Lisbon-Rome.
The reuse of brass has numerous environmental benefits beginning with the reduction of degraded areas due to extraction of its ores, namely copper and zinc. Brass is characterized by its ability to be indefinitely recycled and, because it is more profitable than manufacturing it from raw materials, it is also one of the most recyclable metals in the world.
The property of brass allows it to be infinitely recycled without degrading its metal structure, also making the process of reusing the water meter body an economically and ecologically advantageous solution.
Whenever JANZ reuses a brass body to requalify a water meter, it contributes to energy savings that are reflected in the casting process of this metal, corresponding to 293 kWh of electricity for each ton of melted metal. This energy saving results in a reduction of CO2 emissions, the quantities of which depends on the energy mix of the country where the smelting takes place.
The practice of reusing brass bodies and, consequently, the requalification of water meters, has a long history in the Portuguese market and it is today, more than ever, being requested by the management entities, motivated, and committed, themselves, to contribute to this significant energy, ecology, and economic savings when managing their water meter parks.
Requalify water meters reusing the original brass bodies means technologically and metrologically updating the meter and simultaneously contribute to an active carbon footprint reduction.
In addition to the reuse of brass, JANZ seeks to extend the concept of sustainability to all its activities, adopting good practices intended to protect the environment and leave a promising future for the next generations. Within the scope of our sustainability policies, reusing and recycling are a permanent concern in the company.
In the first quarter of 2022, 40 kilograms of tungsten carbide waste, coming from carbide cutting tools used in spinners and the machining of meter bodies, was sent for recycling. Tungsten carbide is considered a very valuable metal in industry due to its low abundance in nature and demanding mining, which needs a large amount of ore to extract a small amount of tungsten.
JANZ is engaged in a permanent search for new ways to reuse and recycle all possible waste materials, from the simplest, such as cardboard boxes, to the most complex such as brass and tungsten. We believe this is the path to a more efficient and competitive, innovative, and sustainable economy.
