A practical solution for mining and steel industries to offset their carbon emissions.

Carbon emissions, and their offsetting, is an incredibly important topic for all of the world’s industrial giants, but none more so than those in mining and steel production. These companies are racing towards creating a more sustainable future and investing in projects and systems that can help them achieve these goals. Repair, Don’t Waste is proud to be a collaborator in sustainability with both Vale and Usiminas by reducing the potential E-Waste produced in industrial processes.

The world’s leading mining business Vale invested in the Repair, Don’t Waste movement in 2022 by incorporating specialist test and measurement equipment into their repair workshops. Vale is a unique mining business as they manage many aspects of their own supply chain – from prospecting, to excavating, and transporting the vast quantities of metal ore via railroad to ports and processing plants. If just one link in this supply chain fails, the delays and consequences can be disastrous. With a heavy reliance on technology and electronics to operate hefty machinery and freight trains, Vale were vulnerable to faulty PCB’s and components – many of which are rapidly becoming obsolete.

By investing in in-house repair capabilities, repair technicians can quickly find the culprit of the faulty circuit board, replace the component, and reinstate the board back into the essential rolling stock equipment. This prevents unnecessary downtime in the supply chain whilst waiting for a replacement PCB, whilst also saving money and reducing the amount of E-Waste going to landfill – disposing of 1 tiny faulty chip, compared to a large, expensive board with hundreds of components. In-house electronic repair and maintenance also give companies control over their own equipment rather than relying on OEMs, mitigating the effect of programmed obsolescence and troublesome chip supply shortages.

Steel production giant Usiminas has also joined the Repair, Don’t Waste movement by investing in electronic diagnostic equipment for the repair and maintenance of their machinery. Usiminas produce 9.5 million metric tons of steel per year – there are a huge number of electronic systems at play to operate these major steel mills, any of which could fail due to a single faulty capacitor, diode, or chip. By repairing these vital circuit boards rather than sourcing expensive replacements, production line downtime is significantly reduced along with the company’s E-Waste contributions.