Wetherby Building Systems has invested more than £200,000 in new environmental initiatives over the last 12 months in a bid to reduce its carbon footprint by at least 40%.
Wetherby says its aims have always been to operate as a sustainable business as much as possible and this investment seeks to further enhance its environmental credentials by implementing activities that will help to reduce its energy consumption, increase its recycling output and save carbon emissions.
A major investment has come from the installation of 329 solar panels on the roof of its head office in Golborne, Greater Manchester. It is estimated that the new solar panels will reduce the company’s annual energy consumption by 45%, leading to a saving of 35 tonnes of CO2 per year.
Wetherby has now extended its waste collection scheme to include all of its trade counters across the UK, as well as sites installing its products. The initiatives see clean off-cuts of insulation products collected from site and taken back to the factory, to be re-ground and utilised in the manufacturing of new insulation products. This year the number of sites participating in the scheme has doubled, with more than 8,000m3 of EPS insulation recycled during the last 12 months.
A host of other environmental improvements have been put in place including changing some of the company cars to electric / hybrid models, new recycling bailers at all depots, more efficient charging of forklift trucks and installing light sensors within office buildings, all of which have contributed to significantly reducing Wetherby’s carbon footprint.
Jacqui Brown, HSQE officer for Wetherby Building Systems commented: “We supply products that aim to make properties more energy efficient so it is important to us that those values are reflected within our own business. We have a strong environmental policy in place and are always looking for new ways to improve our operation in this area.
“The latest improvements we have made are making a significant impact on the business and we are already seeing a huge reduction in our energy costs from the solar panels we installed earlier in the year. Despite this success, we won’t be stopping here; we have several new environmental schemes planned to launch in the New Year and we will continue to investigate new opportunities to help make ourselves and our supply chain a more sustainable operation.”
