Katapult, a legendary Czech band, released their second studio album in 1980. It contains one of Katapult's greatest hits, "Až" ("When"), in which the band looks into the "distant future" of the year 2006: Until today, Oldřich Říha sings that "…we will have factories for trees, artificial grass in front of the houses, prosperity will prevail in the world and we will be able to manufacture almost anything." And then there goes the main line that has become generally popular: "What about the children? Do they have a place to play?"
The essence of the message is still clear today: humankind has achieved incredible advances in technology thanks to its ingenuity, but more or less at the expense of the planet that provides the conditions for life to all of us.
In UNEX we realize that on one hand, we have often unique manufacturing capacities and abilities and participate in the development and production of the state-of-the-art machines and equipment, but on the other hand, our production may affect the surrounding environment. And the fact that we are aware of this is why we long and systematically try to reduce the impact of our activities on the environment, far beyond what the legislation requires us to do. Many years ago, we took the first steps, and other are planned for the coming period.
A specific example? Every year, our foundry works used to produced, among other things, thousands of tons of waste foundry sand, which ended up on dumps until recently. Thanks to the certifications we have obtained, this sand is now registered as a product and many companies use it for further processing. Similarly, we have found purchasers for foundry slag, lining, waste from welding and blasting. All these materials find their new role instead of ending up on a dump. The entire process is certified and has the appropriate permits from the state authorities.
Similarly, we try to eliminate the amount of emissions released into the atmosphere. We have invested tens of millions of Czech crowns in filtering, suction and other technologies. The result is that our chimneys release a significantly lower amount of emissions than specified by the legislation. Naturally, the positive impacts of these investments are most distinctive in the immediate vicinity of our production facilities.
What are we currently working on? This year, we in UNEX will focus even more on increasing the efficiency of energy management so as to reduce the electricity and natural gas consumption. We will consistently measure and evaluate the consumption of electricity, natural gas, technical gases, hot water and other energies. We believe that thanks to accurate data, we can identify many opportunities for savings. The investment in the Energy Information and Control System of Flow Measurement (EIRS) will amount to approximately 10 millions of Czech crowns. A similar amount of investment will be directed this year in the replacement of the energy inefficient and technically obsolete blast machines. Besides the reduction of energy intensity, the emissions will be reduced too.
The environment matters to us in UNEX, so we try to reflect its protection in each and every one of our activities. Not only in the production, but also in the offices.
Not only for the employees…
UNEX's financial resources are not invested only in new technologies or environmental protection, but they also help in the region where our company operates. The connection between UNEX and the town of Uničov has lasted for almost 70 years and so has also our support for the region, culture and sports as well as other social activities. Among other, we provide funds to technical schools in the region, for example, for the purchase of machine tools, equipment of the classrooms and other necessary items. Within the support of children's and youth's extracurricular activities, we regularly provide funds to local sports and PT clubs. We believe that the Uničov Summer of Culture fest, of which we are a long-term general partner, make summer months more pleasant to all culture enthusiasts. But we do not forget the elderly either. For a long time, we have been cooperating with Šternberk Charity (Uničov site) that provides charitable care and nursing services to all who need them. We also actively participate in other socially beneficial and/or charitable projects.
The employees of UNEX have the opportunity to undergo many preventive medical examinations, visit educational lectures or take part in the company's sports and social events.