Duraweld announce latest carbon offsetting programme
Duraweld, one of the UK’s leading producers of customised presentation, packaging and printed products, has announced that for the third year running it is undertaking a carbon offsetting programme by purchasing 27 energy efficient stoves for an African-based project managed by offset provider co2balance.
The energy efficient stoves are approximately 50% more efficient than an open fire, therefore needing considerably less wood to cook with. As a result each energy efficient stove will save over 15 tonnes of CO2 over the lifetime of the stove. They are built nearby to where they are used, therefore providing local employment, and using Google Earth the exact location of each stove can be seen via a link from the Duraweld website.
The company reduced their overall CO2 tonnage by 11% from last year, equivalent to flying from London to New York 18 times or driving 135,000 miles by car. Savings were made by installing movement detectors for infrequently used areas of the factory; improving the amount of daylight into the factory thus reducing the need for electric lights and initiating a strict “switch off” policy for unused machinery.
In addition to carbon offsetting, the company is also celebrating the fact that the successful implementation of its ambitious Environmental Policy has seen significant reductions in other areas of energy consumption. Launched in 2007, its 20 step programme covers all areas of the business and includes a comprehensive range of environmentally-friendly measures and procedures. Efficiencies reported in the last 12 month period show:
Electricity kwh usage – reduced by 18%
Gas kwh usage – reduced by 20%
Water consumption – reduced by 3%
Skips sent to landfill – reduced by 30%
Amount of new pallets/boxes purchased – reduced by 35%
A4 office paper usage/purchased – reduced by 29%
In a move to inspire others to learn from their success and take up the ‘environmental challenge’, Duraweld is now issuing an invitation to businesses to visit their premises in Scarborough this September for a free ‘Environmental Tour’, to see for themselves how such results can be achieved in both a factory and office environment.
Hannah Senior, Chief Operating Officer, Duraweld said: “Duraweld is well known for being committed to the protection of our ecosystem and environmentally responsible business practices. As a factory-based business, we have had to be determined and focused in making our environmental policy work, and are delighted that we have achieved such outstanding results in such a short space of time. We are now keen to spread the word and show other organisations how we have tackled the ‘green issue’ and hopefully inspire them to do the same.”
Dates for the ‘Environmental Tours’ are Tuesday 22nd September, 1.30-3.00pm and Wednesday 30th September, 10.00-11.30am. As well as seeing Duraweld’s policy of ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’ work in practice, each delegate will also be given a DVD of the same name to take away. Organisations interested in attending should contact Jane Harper, Duraweld Green Team on 01723 584091 or email jane@duraweld.co.uk.