The amount of energy required per m2 of material produced has continued to fall year on year down to 2.72KwHr per m2, representing a 46% drop since 2000. This reduction in energy used has been as a result of hard work on the company’s environmental objectives.
- Less energy to produce than other plastics, at least 15% less energy than linoleum and 50% less energy than ceramics
- Typical life of 20-25 years means fewer replacements so less energy to produce flooring for the life of the building
- Energy consumption in manufacture reduced by over 46% in the last 12 years
- Carbon emissions reduced by 17,612 tonnes since 2000
Energy Saving initiatives
- Installation of automatic shutdown systems to ensure machinery is switched off when not in use
- The implementation of lighting optimisers has continued across the site, which produces a saving of around 25% on energy used
- Installation of automatic lighting in the offices
- The metering and monitoring systems used in the factory for air, steam and all energy consumption has been crucial in identifying areas of leakage, unnecessary use and ways to cut the energy required
Our carbon emissions were reduced by 1,202 tonnes in 2012 and 1,174 tonnes in 2011. The total 17,612 tonne reduction in carbon emissions reported has been independently audited – Polyflor is working with the Carbon Trust’s Energy Management programme, which provides commercially viable solutions to help UK businesses and the public sector cut carbon, energy and costs.
Two significant contributors to our recent progress have come from the following initiatives at our Whitefield manufacturing site:
- The installation of the AirStar system, which reduces compressed air. This has had a massive impact on carbon emissions - reducing our carbon footprint by 20% in 5 years.
- Powerstar implemented a voltage optimisation system, which uses a patented triple wound transformer, enabling voltage reduction without compromising supply. From this, results have shown that the site's annual energy consumption has been reduced by 12.8%.
Water reduction is an important step in improving the environment and protecting natural resources.
On site, rainwater is collected and stored in a designated area known as ‘lodge water’. This is used to substitute mains supply, saving a valuable natural resource.
The following steps have been taken to ensure that energy and water usage is greatly reduced:
Optimisation of steam pressure
- Improvement of the efficiency of pumps and automatic controls
- Regular steam trap surveys
- Optimisation of cooling water temperature
- Installation of water economisers on toilets
Even with an increase in production throughout 2012 there has been continual progress on site in reducing both wet and dry waste.
As a business with electrical and electronic equipment to dispose of, we are fully compliant with the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive and therefore recycle such waste accordingly.
Improvements on recycling meant that dry waste fell from 7.5% of production volume in 2002 to 1.4% in 2012, equating to a significant reduction in dry waste of 81% in ten years. Wet waste in 2012 was 167 tonnes, an impressive 75% reduction when compared to 2000’s figures.
Waste recycled in 2012:
- 28 tonnes of wood
- 107 tonnes of cardboard
- 132 tonnes of liquid waste (plasticiser condensate from factory ovens)
- 1.3 tonnes of paper
- 20 tonnes of plastic rollwrap
The tonnages of plastic rollwrap has remained the same, whilst we have recycled more liquid waste. Other figures for 2012 fell compared with 2011’s figures. Despite recycling less wood, cardboard and paper, this is largely due to our commitment to use less packaging material and be more diligent with our suppliers. It is important to Polyflor that we reduce potential waste in the first place.
As production increases, investment is continually made to improve storage and handling facilities for subsequent waste on site. Limiting the potential for waste at the outset will continue to be a priority with reusing or recycling being the final legacy as part of our continued commitment to ‘zero production waste to landfill’.
Polyflor has been recycling vinyl since the 1950s, when we pioneered the manufacture of homogeneous flooring. It has always been considered a perfectly natural part of the manufacturing process.
- Vinyl flooring is most suitable for recycling and is 100% recyclable
- Up to 40% recycled material content
- 9,303 tonnes of production waste and 1013 tonnes of post consumer waste recycled in 2012
- 156.3 tonnes of dry waste (excluding vinyl waste) was recycled in 2012
- 132 tonnes of liquid waste was recycled in 2011
There can be few materials better suited to recycling than vinyl flooring. Vinyl is 100% recyclable and can in fact be recycled many times over without losing any of its performance properties, furthermore recycled vinyl requires 85% less energy to manufacture than virgin PVC.
Recycled Content
Post production waste vinyl is generated on site from scrap material produced during and after production, this comprises vinyl chippings, clean trims and off-cuts as well as recovered dust. We also recycle glass which is post consumer waste, combined with the aggregates, into many of our Polysafe products.
With legacy additives becoming increasingly important (tighter regulation on the quality of recycled material used) making recycling even more challenging, 2012 saw significant progress being made with LVT and Heterogeneous product ranges, which now contain 40% and 10% recycled content - a 60% and 100% increase respectively. Polyflor products are still completely recyclable through the Recofloor scheme.
In the Future
With recycling being at the heart of Polyflor's operations, we will continue to invest significantly in the development of a much greater recycling capacity and capability, and fully utilise all options available in the recycling of post consumer waste back into new product.
Legacy additives in post consumer recycled material will need to be managed effectively, with returned material identification a key factor to prevent materials being used in Polyflor flooring that would not and should not be included.