Years of Sustainability Investments Lead to Veco’s IDEX Green Certification
Through equipment updates, improved waste management and energy efficiency tactics at their manufacturing sites, Veco recently received IDEX Green Certification.
The leading manufacturer of micro-precision metal parts using electroforming technology, located in the Netherlands and India, Veco replaced two gas fired furnaces, separated their waste streams and installed cooling towers
Equipment Updates
Veco replaced two gas-fired non-condensing furnaces from 1985 and 1986 with three new condensing gas fired furnaces. This update is projected to cut Veco's natural gas usage by 70-80% and reduce CO₂ emissions by 700 metric tons annually.
Later this year, the site hopes to replace their last non-condensing furnace from 1993 with two heat pumps that have a capacity of 300kW each.
Waste Management
The Veco team implemented an extensive waste separation process, including empty canisters of chemistry.
Packages of oxidizing or toxic chemicals are separated from other empty packaging for good environmental disposal. Metals are collected separately as are plastics from logistical processes and chemical waste streams.
Teams in India have transitioned processes for sugar sieves to a new Zero Liquid Discharge, which significantly reduced the amount of nickel contaminated wastewater from 25,000 m3 to 17,000 m3. Nickel-contaminated wastewater is an environmental hazard containing toxins and carcinogens.
Energy Efficiency
Traditionally, both sites relied on heated baths for coating and electroforming—an energy-intensive approach.
In addition to updating their process, Veco installed a new electricity monitoring system to better understand and manage energy use. It tracks monthly consumption trends, identifies idle (non-productive) power, and measures load demand across key equipment. The system also balances runtime between two compressors to avoid inefficiencies and flags air leaks so they can be fixed quickly.
Finally, Veco’s cooling towers enable the sites to recirculate cooling water instead of relying on groundwater-intensive, once-through (“flow-through”) cooling for electroforming baths. This change is projected to conserve at least 51,000 m3 of natural water each year.