AVK UK GREEN PAPER REDUCE REUSE RECYCLE

Transcription

1 AVK UK GREEN PAPER REDUCE REUSE RECYCLE AVK UK GREEN PAPER JULY 2018

2 CONTENTS GREEN PAPER JULY 2018 THE YEAR OF THE TRANSITION Our Journey towards ISO 14001:2015 Mission Completed! GLOBAL NEWS The use of Recycled Paper in the AVK UK Core Group Zero Waste to Landfill - Update DID YOU KNOW? FACTS AND FIGURES HOW ARE WE DOING? AVK UK s Climate Change Programme GREEN PAPER

3 THE YEAR OF THE TRANSITION: OUR JOURNEY TOWARDS ISO 14001:2015 MISSION COMPLETED! The AVK UK Group of companies have until September 2018 to successfully make the transition to the new standards. Below is a brief update as to the current status since the last edition (April 2018) The 1st phase of transition audits have now been completed across the 3 core manufacturing companies. With a few minor improvement opportunities raised relating to transition requirements regarding internal audits and management review processes. These issues have now been resolved and closed out. AVK UK, Donkin, AVK Syddal and Aqua-Gas Manufacturing have all successfully passed the final stage transition audit and have now received the new ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015 certificates Invicta Valves have now successfully passed the final stage transition audit, and have been recommended for transition to the new ISO 9001:2015 and 14001:2015 standards. Glenfield Valves have successfully obtained the ISO 9001:2015 certificate, and have no current plans to obtain ISO 14001:2015 certification within the near future. Fusion have successfully obtained the ISO 9001:2015 certificate, and have no current plans to obtain the ISO 14001:2015 certificate within the near future. To conclude on this story, all companies of the AVK UK group have successfully achieved transition to the new 2015 standards within the 3 year deadline. A massive thank you to all of the employees who have dedicated time and effort in order to complete this target. Note: Number in brackets refer to the clauses in the international standard GREEN PAPER 3

4 THE USE OF RECYCLED PAPER During the last Environmental and Corporate Social Responsibility (ECSR) meeting, the use of recycled paper was discussed. Xerox recycled paper is manufactured using 100% recovered paper, which means that in comparison to paper produced from virgin fibres: Less energy and water is consumed Fewer greenhouse gases arise Forests remain standing to store CO2 More natural woodland can be saved. The re-use of recovered paper also means that the disposal of paper as landfill is greatly avoided. This low whiteness paper is made from 100% Post Consumer Waste (PCW) and is ideal for everyday home and office printing. It is free of any bleaching and optical brightening agents which has been proven to reduce eye strain issues and improve optimal reading conditions. Due to this information, it has been decided that this recycled paper will be used within the 3 core Manufacturing companies and AVK UK sales company for internal processes only such as works orders, picking lists, purchase orders and any other general administrative tasks. Any Literature that is to be displayed either on notice boards, SQDIPM Boards or that needs to be sent out to third party stakeholders such as customers must remain on virgin white paper. The QHSE Co-ordinator is currently in the process of trialling the recycled paper to ensure that it is fit for purpose. Once this has been confirmed, the QHSE Co-ordinator will update the AVK UK Printing Policy and send out to all computer users. The QHSE Co-ordinator would appreciate if this green initiative is taken on board by all AVK UK employees. Together we can make a difference. Trees Water Energy Emissions Xerox Recycled Paper 0kg 100% 22.2 Litres 83% 7.5 kwh 72% 1.4 kgco2e Virgin Fibre Paper 7.5kg Litres 26.8 kwh 2.6 kgco2e 4 GREEN PAPER

5 ZERO WASTE TO LANDFILL UPDATE The QHSE Co-ordinator has been contacting waste disposal companies and determining what exactly happens with our waste once it leaves our sites. The AVK Donkin facility uses Veolia as its general waste disposal company. This waste is taken to Sheffield s Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) where the waste is incinerated. The heat that is generated from this incineration process is turned into steam and is used to make thermal energy for buildings situated across Sheffield city centre. It also generates electricity for the National Grid. Residual waste arising from this process is mixed in with construction aggregate (Concrete) which results in none of our waste being sent to landfill sites. The AVK Syddal Facility uses Suez as its general waste disposal company. This waste is sent to Biffa s recycling plant located in Irlam, Manchester. From here, the waste material is segregated for any further recoverable recyclable materials. Materials that can t be recycled are incinerated which provides heating energy for local properties. The AGMC Facility uses Biffa as its general waste disposal company. This waste is sent for further segregation at a local waste transfer station. Recoverable recyclable materials are taken out, cleaned up and sold on to companies or exported to be re-purposed. The residual waste is then shipped abroad for incineration. A nominal amount of waste does end up at landfill. Due to this, the QHSE Co-ordinator is in the process of changing the company from Biffa to Mick George Ltd, as they can offer a 100% zero waste to landfill, target date for completion August The AVK UK Sales office in Northampton uses Veolia as its general waste disposal company. This waste is taken to a local waste transfer station, from there the waste is further segregated for any further recoverable recyclable materials. From there it is sent to Mick George s EFW (Energy from Waste) facility in Hampshire whereby waste is incinerated. This process produces energy that is used to heat local residential and commercial premises. GREEN PAPER 5

6 DID YOU KNOW? FACTS AND FIGURES PAPER The average UK family throws away 6 trees worth of paper in their household bin a year. Paper and card make up about a fifth of the typical household dust bin. About half of this consists of newspapers and magazines. Two-thirds of paper is recycled, making it one of the main materials recycled in the UK. Each Christmas as much as 83 square kilometers of wrapping paper ends up in UK rubbish bins, enough to cover an area larger than Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands. On average each primary schools generate around 45kg of waste per pupil per academic year and each secondary school pupil produces around 22 kg of this, 53 to 59% is card and paper. Recycled paper produces 73% less air pollution than if it was made from raw materials million tonnes of paper and cardboard are used annually in the UK. The average person in the UK gets through 38kg of newspapers per year. It takes 24 trees to make 1 ton of newspaper. WASTE The UK produces more than 100 million tonnes of waste every year, one tonne is about the weight of a small car. In less than two hours, the waste we produce would fill the Albert Hall in London, every eight months it would fill Lake Windermere, the largest and deepest lake in England! On average, each person in the UK throws away their own body weight in rubbish every seven weeks. The average household in the UK produces more than a tonne of waste every year. Put together, this comes to a total of 31 million tonnes per year, equivalent to the weight of three and a half million double-decker buses, a queue of which would go around the world two and a half times. Every year we produce about 3% more waste than the year before. This might not sound much but, if we carry on at this rate, it means that we will double the amount of waste we produce every 25 years. Around 1/3 of all the food we buy ends up being thrown away. This is not only a waste of money and resources in growing, harvesting, packaging, transporting, storing and retailing but it also contributes to global warming by producing methane GREEN PAPER

7 AVK UK CLIMATE CHANGE PROGRAMME All in all, AVK UK remains on track with its climate change programme in that our absolute emissions have decreased since the baseline year. However, our carbon intensity (i.e. carbon emissions relative to turnover) remains largely unchanged, showing a slight decrease in 2017 from the previous year. This means that in order to ensure that we continue to demonstrate absolute emission reductions we need to improve our carbon efficiency. To do so we need to create a positive culture around a clear vision, embracing sustainable practice in our long term business strategy and improving performance across the value chain. To improve carbon efficiency is also to reduce bottom line costs and therefore it is in our best interest to continue with the climate change programme, but to put more reduction schemes into action. The Carbon Management Plan that has been developed by the QHSE Co-ordinator aims to reduce carbon emissions over a 5 year period. As the QHSE Co-ordinator, it is my responsibility to collate and put forward suggestions as to how our targets can be achieved. Therefore, if you have any ideas as to how we can improve our climate change programme, whether big or small, please get in touch and I will conduct further research. GREEN PAPER 7

8 REDUCE REUSE RECYCLE Northampton Office 8 Rushmills Northampton NN4 7YB England, UK Tel: +44 (0) Fax: +44 (0) customerservice@avkuk.co.uk Chesterfield Office Colliery Close, Ireland Ind. Est Staveley, Chesterfield S43 3FH England, UK Tel: +44 (0) Fax: +44 (0) gasenquiries@avkuk.co.uk