Sustainability Practices

While “metalworking” and “sustainability” don’t typically go hand in hand, here at ECon Welding & Fabrication we are committed to doing our part to contribute to sustainable work practices. This includes using recycled materials whenever possible, recycling our waste, using the most environmentally friendly metalworking practices, and exploring more sustainable energy sources. 

Recycled Materials

Almost all of the plate and sheet products we use on our metal table legs and bases for the top plates, capped tube ends, and wrapped and formed products are classified as ASTM A36, which is composed of over 97% recycled metal. While the tubing products we use have a different classification, they are still typically rolled from sheet products, which includes grade A36 sheet.

Recycling our Waste

We partner with a metal recycler who provides us with large totes that we use to fill with our metal waste. This waste comes from small, unusable remnants from our raw materials, cut-offs from various projects, and sometimes damaged or mis-made metal products. While this quantity of waste may not seem like much, it really adds up. We recycled well over 2,000 pounds of metal every month. This metal waste is taken by our recycler, melted down and refined, and recycled into grade A36 steel products.

Metalworking Practices

The type of welding we do here is technically classified as Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW), more commonly known as MIG welding. This process with the ER70S type wire we use has a grade A emissions classification from the EPA (Source: AP-42, CH 12.19: Electric Arc Welding (epa.gov)). In addition, our plasma cutting operations use a water table to trap the gas emissions, converting it into dust form so the water can be filtered, drained, and the dust emissions discarded. All of our other metalworking processes are electro-mechanical and produce virtually no emission, with the only waste being solid debris that can be collected and recycled.

Sustainable Energy Sources

In 2022, ECon Welding partnered with a local solar energy supplier with a proposal to install a $250,000 solar energy system on our facility that would recover over 100% of our expected energy usage. This proposal was dragged out over years before it was ultimately denied by our local industrial association board due to liability concerns. The appeal for this is still ongoing, and we hope to get their approval and complete this project soon. In the meantime, we did complete several energy efficiency programs in our facility, including a complete lighting change in 2015 and again in 2018 on our second facility, as well as ongoing energy efficient audits for leaks in our compressed air system, motion sensor lighting, and more.

While there is always more that can be done, we are constantly moving forward in our sustainability practices and looking for opportunities to improve our environmental friendliness. We pride ourselves on being able to lead the industry of metal table legs and bases here in the United States and we believe we should be setting a good example for our peers. If you are looking for a supplier of high-quality metal table legs and bases with some of the best sustainability practices in the industry, please Contact Us today to see how we can help you on your next project!