Nursery Traders 2011 Sustainability Report

Transcription

1 Nursery Traders 2011 Sustainability Reprt Nursery Traders is an innvative whlesale landscape supply cmpany. At inceptin in 1983 we carved a rle as Australia s first ever nursery industry centre-pint bringing tgether a netwrk f grwers and suppliers t display prduct available fr immediate sale t the industry. In ding s, Nursery Traders frged a new era in nursery prduct marketing in Australia. A landscape supply cnduit, tday ur direct supply service and cash n carry trade market prvide a single pint f cntact between whlesale nurseries and prducers f hrticultural prducts t Australia s retail nursery, landscaping and develpment industries. We give ur clients seamless access t a netwrk f mre than 250 quality selected whlesale grwers and suppliers f allied prducts. We are deeply cmmitted t: prviding clients with innvative tailred supply slutins, premium value prducts and valuable utcmes fr their businesses building partnerships with ur suppliers t grw their businesses prfitably prviding a safe, rewarding and financially secure wrkplace fr ur team cnducting ur business with integrity, emplying sund business and envirnmental practices. Underpinning all f these activities is ur intrinsic and abiding cmmitment t innvatin and cntinuus imprvement in everything we d. Over tw decades Nursery Traders has implemented Our six sustainability prjects have reduced utility csts, assuring supply f water and pwer, and have built a strng backbne fr business grwth. Over the past decade r mre, ur investment in water recycling has secured ur business in times f drught and ecnmic instability. Greenlife Nursery Traders is cmmitted t building a better envirnment. Our business distributes hundreds f thusands f plants int the envirnment each year cntributing t sme f Queensland s prized green public and private spaces. In the early 90s, we made a clear decisin t weave that envirnmental cntributin deeply int every aspect f ur business adpting the gal f Achieving wrld best practice in sund envirnmental management.

2 Energy In February 2010 we fitted ur tw largest rfs with a ttal f 228 slar phtvltaic panels, each rated at 210 watts. Tgether at cmmissining, they frmed Australia s largest installatin f Kycera slar panels and Aurra inverters and the largest installatin f its type in Queensland s private sectr. Fibreglass rf sheets in ur buildings ensure we maximise natural light inside, minimising pwer use. In additin we are prgressively installing energy efficient lighting, and with smart everimprving energy cnsumptin practises n-site, we expect nging increases in the amunt f green pwer we feed int the grid. Table energy saving achievements (financial year) Measure Savings Cmment Ttal slar pwer generated 66,628 kilwatt-hurs A recrd Ttal CO 2 reductin 69,693 kilgrams Equivalent carbn ftprint f 5 husehlds. Green pwer exprted t grid 46,054 kilwatt-hurs Frecast t increase thrugh cntinual imprvement Largest generatin day kilwatt-hurs 16 Octber 2010 KWh 2011 Slar pwer generatin 7,000 6,000 5,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 0

3 Water In February 2010, Nursery Traders cmmissined its fifth water recycling prject, installing a fully integrated n-site weather statin tgether with a new sand filtratin system tripling watertreatment and strage rates and stepping us t the verge f ur 19-year visin f ttal water selfsufficiency. Building n nearly tw decades f investment in water harvesting and recycling prjects, this latest step in cmbinatin with ur existing recycling infrastructure and extensive nging analysis, measurement and review which enable us t cntinually identify savings - yielded a saving f 82.81% r 4,279,000 litres in the year ended 30 June 2011 alne. In 2011 we used n ptable water t irrigate ur 12,000 m 2 nursery in August, September, Octber, December, March, April, May and June cnsuming nly 888,000 litres f ptable water and saving 98.5% 59,067,820 litres that s enugh water fr the annual cnsumptin f ver 1000 husehlds. In 1999/2000 we used 33,097,000 litres f twn water per hectare n a develped site f hectares. In 2011 the develped site is larger, at hectares. Tday, against an industry benchmark best practice f 3,000,000 t 5,000,000 litres per hectare we have used nly 490,199 litres per hectare. These savings are a result f cntinuus imprvement and ur cmmitment t weaving ur envirnmental cntributin int everything we d. We culd have stpped at 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%. We didn t because we are cmmitted t finding a better way and achieving ur gal f ttal utility self-sufficiency. Table 2 Ptable Water Use (Litres) July 205, ,000 August 652,000 0 September 478,000 0 Octber 1,208,000 2,000 Nvember 238, ,000 December 1,197, ,000 January 599,000 3,000 February 339, ,000 March 9,000 6,000 April 81,000 7,000 May 5,000 2,000 June 156,000 1,000 5,167, ,000

4 Table water saving achievements (financial year) Measure Litres Cmment Ptable water use 888,000 A recrd Ttal water used in irrigatin 20,753,000 A recrd Estimated water savings 59,067,820 A business recrd 98.5% reductin n 2000 use Ttal estimated water savings 469,106,693 An industry benchmark ver since Olympic swimming pls

5 Waste On the results f a 2010 waste-stream audit, Nursery Traders has reduced waste cllectin by mre than 50 per cent since January We separate all recyclables paper, cardbard, plastics and glass fr cllectin, and cmpst fd scraps. Plastic nursery trays are reused fr transprtatin, and steel frm demlished structures are reused in building display benching and fencing. Electrnic reprting prcedures implemented in 2000 are saving ver 32,000 sheets f paper per annum. Table paper saving achievements (financial year) Measure Savings sheets per annum Cmment Electrnic daily reprting f supplier sales 20,748 Annual water savings 10,868 litres Electrnic reprting, invicing and remittance f sales t 11,857 Annual tree savings 3.9 trees suppliers Ttal 32,605 Annual CO2 savings 352 kg