Ship and Shore Environmental's Jim Kuzara talks the technicalities of RTOs, a growing demand for industrial eco solutions and tackling China's pollution problem...
According the the United Nations, we have a mere 11 years left to prevent irreversible damage to our planet from climate change. World leaders around the globe are being called on to take action to clean up the planet through cutting emissions, reducing plastic waste and minimising pollution. Inevitably, manufacturers are coming under increasing pressures to address the carbon footprint of their production processes, and the fastener industry is no different.
Cue, Ship and Shore Environmental; a specialist in pollution abatement technologies helping businesses to lower their greenhouse gas emissions and improve the energy efficiency of their operations.
“It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach,” explains Jim Kuzara, Ship and Shore’s Technical Sales Manager. “We work with our customers to look at their current processes and developing ways we can make this better. This could be coming up with a better way to collect emissions or retain heat energy, and so on.”
Ship and Shore’s equipment is custom engineered specifically for its clients’ needs with the aim of improving energy efficiency, meeting environmental regulations and reducing a firm’s impact on the environment, whilst in turn enhancing productivity and profitability. The firm, which experienced 13% growth in 2018, specialises in air pollution abatement systems – the capture and re-circulation of volatile organic compound emissions (VOC) – and Regenerative Thermal Oxidis-ers (RTOs) which re-purposes thermal energy created during the abatement process.
“For each unique Regenerative Thermal Oxidiser Design project, our teams utilise their experience and expertise to create the best overall system at the most efficient RTO cost,” Kuzara offers. “We also support our customers with 24/7 support and servicing, as well as helping them out with things such as rebates from electric and gas companies.”
These are a couple of things which Kuzara believes contribute to the firm’s success: “We have to create added value for our customers, as we are essentially an ‘add-on’ cost for manufacturers. Therefore, it’s important to continually support our customers and help them get a return on their investment,” he explains. “That’s starting to change now, though, as regulations are starting to get stricter and companies are turning to us more and more to provide equipment and solutions that will enable them to meet new environmental regulations and targets.”
One such country which has seen a tightening on air pollution and emission regulations is China, prompting Ship and Shore Environmental to open a new manufacturing facility in Shanghai. The facility offers the same capabilities as its US counterpart while holding all the rights to its own technology.
“ Asia seems to be where the big opportunities are,” confirms Kuzara. “European restrictions have been strict for years with many companies investing in equipment like ours, and now a similar trend to improve air quality and reduce emissions is emerging in China.”
The demand for Ship and Shore’s pollution abatement and RTO technology looks set to continue rising as governments, local authorities and regulatory bodies impose tighter regulations on air pollution and emissions for manufacturers.
“We look upstream to see how we can help our customers,” concludes Kuzara. “Some businesses aren’t conscious about what’s going on with the environment, and when they come to renew a permit they realise they don’t meet the latest air pollution regulations. “We can then work with them in a process-orientated way to provide them with the solutions they need to meet these requirements.”
