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Green MEP visits Daikin’s Ostend factory

BELGIUM: Daikin Europe’s Ostend factory has been visited by EU Greens MEP Sara Matthieu, enabling the company to highlight its contributions to Europe’s Clean Industrial Deal.

During her visit, Matthieu was given a comprehensive tour of the 26,000m2 facility, a key site for Daikin’s European operations and at the forefront of the company’s efforts to integrate sustainability into its manufacturing processes. 

The Ostend factory, which produces domestic and commercial heat pumps, employs a number of new technologies and processes.

One of the highlights is Daikin’s hybrid painting line which can switch from 100% gas to 100% electricity, allowing the factory to balance energy sources based on availability and cost, as well as saving up to 230 tons of CO2 per year.

On windy or sunny days, when electricity is cheaper than gas, the factory can operate the painting line for free, maintaining CO2 neutrality. On top of that, the factory is rolling out additional investments in solar energy to accelerate the emission reductions even further.

The Ostend factory’s new R7X heat exchanger line is another example. The R7X line integrates best practices from other Daikin factories, which lead to a 54% increase in productivity, and significant improvements in ergonomics and quality.

During the visit, Sara Matthieu emphasised the importance of collaboration between policymakers, industry leaders, and workers to achieve the goals of the Clean Industrial Deal. 

The Clean Industrial Deal targets green manufacturing, energy security, circularity and trade regulations, with the aim of cutting emissions by 90% by 2040.

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