Page 32 from: January / February 2013
32 January/February 2013
Spotlight on automotive expertise
This year marks a milestone for Austrian technology expert SEDA,
which celebrates the 20th anniversary of its renowned de-pollution
system for end-of-life vehicles (ELVs). Recorded in the recycling his-
tory books as the first complete solution of its kind back in 1993, the
huge interest generated by this invention of SEDA’s founder Josef
Dagn quickly proved that he had uncovered a whole new niche with-
in the recycling industry.
The mission pursued by Josef Dagn, a former trainee at Mercedes Benz in Germany, was
one with both a strong technological and eco-
logical component given that his ‘core vision’ was
to protect the environment from hazardous liq-
uids contained in end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) by
introducing clean and sorted fractions of car
fluids to the equation. His company went on to
establish itself at seven locations around the
globe, to collaborate
with 20 partners and
to boast an almost
3000-strong clien-
tele made up mainly
of dismantlers and
recyclers. And so it is
clear that the SEDA
concept has earned
the appreciation of
industry at large.
Indeed, Josef Dagn’s creation represented quite
a novelty for the automotive sector as it offered
a fully-integrated ELV drainage solution,
equipped with a large de-pollution platform as
well as a number of much-needed drilling and
cutting devices – all of which were specially
designed to extract any fluids still left behind
in cars destined to be scrapped.
The man behind the success
SEDA’s Chief Marketing Officer Andreas Rieser
says of the company’s leading light: ‘With his
effort, spirit and innovations, he has realised
his dream of cleaner and safer car recycling.’ To
this day, Mr Dagn remains a true source of
inspiration and therefore ‘the man behind all
the success’, Mr Rieser also observes.
Following on the heels of the development of a
one-of-a-kind radiator testing system which was
also enthusiastically received by the industry, the
ELV drainage solution quickly found its way
throughout Europe – and was subsequently thor-
oughly improved and customised to suit spe-
cific demands in terms of capacity and applica-
tion. ‘The work of dismantlers is hard work,’
explains Mr Rieser. ‘So equipment for this niche
branch has to be “heavy duty” and needs to fit
special requirements.’ Adding that innovation is
much needed to drive the sector forward, he adds:
‘That’s why we build our own prototypes and test
them with dismantlers – under real conditions.’
This approach has yielded many different ver-
sions of the system. ‘One of our technological
highlights is the SEDA EasyDrain de-pollution
system, which has secured over 300 sales since
it was originally introduced,’ remarks Mr Rieser.
Other incarnations of the system include: the
SEDA Rapid – a transparent and flexible station
developed with mid-size dismantlers in mind
that allows for removal of 98% of all fluids from
up to 30 ELVs per day; and the SEDA SingleSta-
tion – an all-in-one solution that comprises an
elaborate range of accessories ‘to enable count-
less variation possibilities’.
Big effects from subtle changes
‘Constant development and thinking outside
the box are main points for our team,’ says Mr
Rieser, adding that the Austrian company has
learned ‘smaller changes can have a big effect
and benefit’. An example of this is the tailored
E L V s By Kirstin Linnenkoper
SEDA celebrates
20 years of ELV technology
SEDA’s Chief Marketing Offi cer
Andreas Rieser.
RI_1-SEDA.indd 32 29-01-13 14:47
