More recycling and less energy
October 1st 2007

Trelleborg Industrial AVS has recorded a massive advance in its recycling record, reducing waste sent to landfill from 711 tonnes in 2005 to approximately 311 in 2006 with a further reduction scheduled for 2007, which will bring the total down to 84 tonnes.This is how they went about it

The improvement began with Trelleborg's decision in 2004 to apply for the environmental standard ISO 14001.

This raised the whole question of environmental impacts and led the company to believe that it could reduce the cost of waste by 20%.

The idea was greeted with such enthusiasm that the target was soon exceeded, and in the first year savings of 22% were made. Landfill was reduced by 57% and the projections for 2007 are that the overall reductions will reach 73% and 50% in associated costs.

This has been achieved by the hard work and enthusiasm at all levels throughout the factory, under the guidance of a steering committee composed of Richard Semmens operations director,Mark Thistlethwaite quality and environmental manager, David Kind materials manager and John Hagan logistics manager. First step was a thorough survey of waste and recycling issues at Leicester conducted by committed environmentalist, Sophie Rippinger, of the Trelleborg Customer Care Centre in Edinburgh.

Sophie's survey provided a first snapshot that was gradually refined as further work identified the factory's many different waste streams, including contaminated waste, shot blast,waste water, metal bonded parts, metals, cured and uncured rubber, cleaning fluids, oil thinners and many more. It was immediately apparent that considerable savings could be made but also that there was an opportunity to take the process much further than is required by legislation.

A significant proportion of the cost savings are being invested in technology to improve the environmental footprint even further. For example,Trelleborg Industrial AVS has been eliminating solvents from the rubber bonding process ever since the new factory opened in 2002. This has involved an advanced scrubbing facility that has proved so successful that emissions are infinitesimal and virtually undetectable. Now, there have been further investments that will allow the carbon material to be reused in the scrubbing process and its waste water to be treated for return to the drainage system.

Trelleborg Industrial AVS has instigated an energy management team that is responsible for reducing energy usage and the carbon footprint for the site.The team comprises Richard Kenyon, UK plant manager,Alan Jones, maintenance manager, Kevin Smith, production manager,Mark Coote, process engineer, Ian McDade, instrumentation engineer and Hans Tiisler health & safety manager.With the help of investment from Trelleborg IAVS, the team has reduced energy usage by 40% from 2004 levels and is currently targeting another 3.5% reduction for 2007.

Trelleborg Industrial AVS exports its products all round the world, so great attention has been paid to the transport footprint, in particular with the help of computer modelling.

Airfreight is now kept to a minimum, employees are choosing more environmentally-friendly company cars and deliveries from suppliers have largely been replaced by introducing a twice weekly milk run instead of daily deliveries into the factory by up to ten different suppliers.

Finally, systems have been established to separate out all the different waste streams and recycle as much of it as possible. Compactor loads are down from 295 tonnes to 40 tonnes a year. Some of these wastes are removed without charge and some, such as waste rubber and used shot, are recycled. One local organisation that helps is Environ in Leicester, which takes cardboard, paper and polythene waste and sorts it ready for recycling.

In the words of Ron Smith, president of TIAVS,"Our parent company,Trelleborg, is Swedish and of course very supportive of environmental initiatives, but I am proud to say we have outdistanced corporate guidelines by a wide margin. It's something I personally am very keen on, so it has been particularly heartening to find the whole company responding with such enthusiasm, energy and commitment."