Lucien Joppen

Foundation Brede explains that Equinor is not exactly a novice in additive manufacturing. Equinor’s R&D department had already conducted research (materials technology) to assess the reliability/safety of AM-components. However, the company did not have any experience yet regarding the implementation of these parts in the field. “It became clear to me from the research results that this technology is ready to be rolled out.

The AM mindset Pump impeller, Inconel 718, Photo: Equinor Equinor has been active in Additive Manufacturing since 2016. Since then, the company has established its AM Centre of Excellence. As mentioned earlier, the company initially focused on (material) research, when the positive results arrived the implementation project was initiated in 2018. Since then, the AM CoE has become an integrated part of the organisation, serving the Equinor organisation globally.

Each year after publication of the Eurostat-figures for Municipal Waste Treatment, CEWEP produces many graphs based on this data to show the state of waste treatment in Europe. The graph below shows the share of recycling (including composting), waste-to-energy and landfilling of municipal waste in each EU Member State (plus Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom). In terms of waste-to-energy, Scandinavia, Finland, the Netherlands, Belgium and Austria are far ahead of the rest of the EU.