Albert Rösti visits KFN to learn more about its carbon capture project

KFN recently presented its innovative project “Carbon Capture at KFN” on  occasion of the visit from Federal Councillor Albert Rösti. The project’s objective is to capture the carbon emissions from the calcination reaction that occurs in KFN’s lime kiln. With such a carbon capture approach, KFN can reduce its carbon footprint substantially and get a step closer towards climate neutrality.

Peter Briner, CEO of Peter Briner AG, shows the benefits of lime hydrate for farming, having emanated from the filters of KFN’s production.

Peter Briner AG specializes in organic farm fertilizer and recycled manure. For a number of years, the company also offers hydrated lime. This is a by-product created by the burning and slaking of lime, captured in the filters of KFN. Why lime is crucial for fertile grounds and what other benefits hydrated lime has to offer in farming explains Peter Briner. Being the founder and CEO of Peter Briner AG, he has occupied himself for over 30 years with the optimum nutrient supply for farm soils.

KFN uses its own sewage treatment facility to create a water cycle

In the course of its lime production, KFN cleans thousands of tons of rock every year. For this, it uses an internal water cycle. Thanks to its own sewage treatment facility, there is no sewage. 

Heinz Marti, CEO of KFN, explains the company’s efforts in protecting resources and the many benefits this brings with it.

KFN processes tons of lime every year, turning it into a range of products. How the resources are protected in the best possible way, when this focus started and how both the environment and the company benefit – Heinz Marti explains it all. Being the CEO of a family-owned business, he has known the company for 37 years.

Switzerland’s only lime factory is of national importance

Lime products can be put to great variety of uses and are irreplaceable in many industries. Being Switzerland’s only lime factory, KFN is of decisive importance when it comes to supplying its country with this raw material.

Dr Konrad H. Marti, Head of Company Development at KFN, reports of the current research projects and the diverse efforts of KFN to become part of a climate positive lime industry.

Being a part of the lime industry, KFN has set itself the goal to become a climate positive enterprise in the long term. What part innovations play in this, where new uses for lime should be ventured for and how the population can support them explains Konrad H. Marti. As the Head of Company Development of Kalkfabrik Netstal (KFN) AG, his focus is on the future of KFN’s products.

Urs Schädler, CEO of Fischer Logistik, talks about his co-operation with KFN and the implementation of intelligent logistics solutions.

Logistics solutions can have a huge influence on how much CO2 is emitted, until a product is finished and reaches its customer. What to look for in sustainable logistics solutions, how KFN benefits from them already and how cargo transports could evolve further explains Urs Schädler. As the CEO of Fischer Logistik, he has been working with KFN for years and knows the respective advantages of road and rail transports.

Barbara Fierz, manager of Pro Natura Glarus, sheds a light on the co-operation between environment protection groups and KFN

While mining for lime leaves by nature a footprint in the environment, KFN tries to make this footprint as small as possible. To this end, KFN also works with environment protection groups. What this co-operation means in detail, how KFN accepts requests by environmental groups and what benefits for nature quarries that are no longer used bring is explained by Barbara Fierz. As the manager of Pro Natura Glarus she knows the issues first hand.

Bernhard Klumpp is responsible for production and engineering at KFN. He tells about the many ways KFN stresses safety at work.

Blasting, burning, packaging and transporting: KFN has to do with numerous processes that can be dangerous – if certain precautions are not taken. How the dangers are curtailed whenever possible, why barely ever anything happens during a blast and how KFN supports safety also in private lives – Bernhard Klumpp explains it. Being responsible for production and engineering at KFN, safety at work is a crucial issue for him.

Markus Pesenti, co-vice president of the Netstal Football Club, talks about the long-standing sponsorship by KFN and of mutual support.

Netstal Football Club (FC Netstal) plays an important part in the social life of Netstal, not least because of its youth development. How KFN supports the FC in this, how important these sponsorships are for clubs and how the football club is also giving back tells Markus Pesenti. He is co-vice president of FC Netstal and treasures the fact that “KFN has an ear for us”.

31 species of wild bees live in the KFN quarry

Around the KFN quarry there is an ideal micro climate for many bee species. The planned addition of deadwood structures aims to improve their living situation, so that the fauna of wild bees will be growing further in the future.

KFN actively fights neophytes in the region

To protect the local flora, KFN is actively engaged in the fight against neophytes. The beneficiaries from this long-standing engagement are not just the local plants, but biodiversity as a whole throughout the region.

KFN supports employees with its own relief fund

Physical handicaps and sickness, debt and other problems: in order to support its employees in acute and desperate situations, KFN operates its own relief fund.

Confidence created thanks to earnest discussion

KFN engages in a dialogue with the general public, in order to be able to listen to issues and needs from different parts. CEO Heinz Marti considers this to be the foundation for a long-standing trust built between authorities, the public and KFN.

Rail transport lowers CO2 emissions by over 150 metric tons in 2020 alone

To keep its ecologic footprint as light as possible, KFN relies on rail transport for its cargo shipments. This meant 1,259 fewer truck rides in 2020 alone, saving about 156 metric tons of CO2 emissions.

Research proves numerous positive effects of slaked lime

Adding slaked lime to asphalt mixtures verifiably leads to a 25 per cent longer useful life. This in turn makes a complete refurbishment unneccessary, thus cutting back on the emissions of critical climate-relevant gases by 23 per cent.

On-Running shoots film about product innovation on KFN site

At the beginning of the year Hillton, a Zurich film production company, shot an advertising film in KFN’s quarry. Its star: a newly developed running shoe by On-Running. This special new shoe was thus given a special scenery.

Residual CO2 content of quicklime a bare 0.5 %

KFN’s new kiln was ignited for the first time last October, as it had been planned. Thanks to its innovative technology it can be used to produce quicklime with a very low residual CO2 content and very high reactivity.

Glarus voters vote in favor of development plans with significant majority

In the course of the municipal assembly of 27 November, 2020, the Glarus citizens eligible to vote have voted in favor of the development plans “Elggis Süd” and “Gründen” with a large majority. This lays down an important milestone to secure the future of KFN for the next decades.

Bridging the gap between climate neutral production and a clima positive industry

An important part of KFN’s sustainability concept is CO2 reduction. With the lime industry roadmap 2050, KFN and the lime industry show how the Paris Agreement on climate protection can be put to work successfully in our industry.

Slaked lime put to use in the production of whey and lactose

A very large variety of products can be made from milk, not just cream, cheese, yoghurt and butter. Milk is also the basic ingredient for some functional products. Slaked lime plays a significant role in their production.

Affordable raw materials to control the PH value

The European paper industry has just overcome a very moving time. While many mills made the switch from caustic soda to lime milk, many were subsequently closed due to overcapacities, others underwent a repositioning. An Austrian paper mill has returned to lime milk – and it plans to widen its use.

Calcium salts are used as flavor enhancers

Mondeléz, the confectionery giant, has found a method to enhance the taste of both sweet and savory foods. These include especially the salty, hot, sweet, bitter and fruity flavors found in chocolate. The ingredient responsible for this is calcium salt.

Drone flight over quarry and factory

Recently, a drone flew over Kalkfabrik Netstal. The film it made in the process offers a new – and stunning – perspective on our business.

Starting with a targeted blasting via the processing of the stones and all the way to the shipping of the stones and the final products using our vehicles: the new drone video shows spectacular images of the Kalkfabrik Netstal taken from a totally different perspective.

Environmental management system is granted ISO certificate 14001:2015

Paying special heed to sustainability is a core component of the business strategy of KFN (Kalkfabrik Netstal). Its environmental management system has now earned KFN a certificate according to ISO 14001:2015. KFN is thus extending its position as the quality leader in the lime industry.

KFN sponsors calcium oxide at the César Ritz College

The number of uses of lime products is staggering – and constantly increasing. They are also used by confectioners. This was presented to his students by pastry chef and professor Javier Mercado recently: His impressive figures made from sugar stay dry thanks to calcium oxide.

by Dr. Dirk Sewing, Head of Research and Development, Kalkfabrik Netstal AG

Numerous KFN clients make a large variety of calcium salts based on KFN’s white lime products. These salts are used for a large part in the food and feed industries, and to a smaller scale also in the pharmaceutical industry. It is obvious that for these industries there are a very strict requirements referring to the purity. The purity of the lime product, as a rule of thumb, has to be safeguarded by complying with the specifications set out for food additives. Additionally, there are legal limits for the final products of our clients.

nekablanc 0 (extra fine calcium hydroxide) meets the high product requirements as a raw material for stabilizing plastic additives. In terms of purity and fineness, nekablanc 0 has secured a top position among the world's hydrated lime hydrates.

An unusual lime application comes from Mexico. There, large quantities of maize kernels are soaked in very dilute, almost boiling milk of lime (with 1% lime content) for 20 to 45 minutes.

Since 2012, the Kalkfabrik Netstal AG is certified for the production of lime products for food. Since that date, the high-quality calcium oxide and calcium hydroxide products of Netstal can be purchased as guaranteed food safe. The certification was a logic consequence of the high purity of KFN lime, known for many years.

In the past years, thanks to the extraordinary purity of the KFN lime products, it has been possible to find more customers in the food, animal feed and pharmaceutical sectors. To guarantee a constant hygiene in the lime production to these customers, in 2011 the executive board decided to apply for the certification according to ISO 22000. The following year this intention has been successfully implemented: since 2012 KFN disposes of the respective certificate. In the meanwhile, the global customers’ demands have increased so much, that for the next deadline an extension to FSSC 22000* is sought.

Soil treatment with lime has been known since ancient times. It was technically developed in the 1950s to consolidate the underfloor of motorways, railway track installations and airfields. This soil treatment could spread quite widely, as hereto only simple operations are needed and it is therefore affordable and very effective. Thanks to the soil improvement with lime, soils that are otherwise useless become good installable construction materials. Soil replacement as well as difficulties in finding a landfill are avoided. A standstill at the construction site in case of bad weather can be prevented with a soil treatment with lime and in this way, a continuous building implementation will be reached.

Whether as a calcium additive for foods and feeds, pharmaceutical solutions or as a highly pure acid scavenger in plastics: Due to its consistently high and outstanding quality, lime from the Swiss Netstal valley is a partner in all these fields.

Wound healing using lime hydrate patented

The disinfecting effects of lime have been known for centuries. Now, lime hydrate can be used directly for wound healing. In a current patent filing, the wound healing effects of a mixture of a preparation of lime hydrate and oil are described. The highly pure calcium hydroxide from KFN is ideally suited for this disinfecting effect.

Preserving with lime

KFN’s high grade calcium oxide CaO and calcium hydroxide Ca(OH)₂ are used in the production of a preserving agent called calcium propionate.

lime to fight lime

Is it fighting fire with fire? You could almost think it’s true when we tell you that taking out calcium or lime from drinking water, a process called decalcification, is done with – lime! The explanation is both simple and fascinating. Calcium deposits or limescales from drinking water, chemically calcium carbonate, are created following simple chemical or physical processes: Carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the atmosphere is captured by rain or ground water to become carbonic acid. If water containing this carbonic acid flows over lime, the carbonic acid dissolves the lime to become soluble calcium hydrogen carbonate. This calcium hydrogen carbonate stays in solution with the drinking water until that water evaporates or is heated. In that case, carbon dioxide (CO₂) and non-soluble calcium carbonate (limescale) re-emerge.

Do you know the different types of calcium carbonate?

 Famous siblings

Calcium carbonate does not always equal calcium carbonate. Many times, subtypes of calcium carbonate have more well-known names than calcium carbonate (the category) itself.