ISO14001:2004

On the 30th of October we were awarded with ISO 14001 certification.

Plastic Waste

We have just changed our waste contractor as our previous contractor was unable to meet our waste / recycling requirements. We wanted to be able to recycle our plastic waste but that wasn't a service that they could provide.

We now have four different bins - one for paper, one for card, one for plastics and one for general waste. The introduction of the fourth 'plastic waste' bin means that we have again reduced the amount of waste that goes to landfill and that all of our plastic waste is now sent for recycling.

BS 8555 Phase 2 and 3 Certificate

Biodegradable Loose Fill Packing Chips

We have just changed the type of packing chips that we use for a 'greener' option. We are now using Flo-Pak Green.

FLO-PAK GREEN is the first ever polystyrene loosefill made from 100% recycled polystyrene material which degrades in the presence of microorganisms and will degrade within 9-60 months.

This sustainable product is made from 100% recycled content, reusable, 100% recyclable, consuming less energy during production and does not attract any rodents and is a funky green colour.

Eco Printy - The Environmentally Friendly Stamp

We are now selling the Eco-Printy in our shop, an environmentally friendly stamp. For more info visit the Trodat web site.

BS 8555 Phase 2 and 3 Certification

Today we had the second assessment of our environmental management system. I am pleased to say that we have passed !
We have decided to move our final assessment forward to August, seven months ahead of schedule.

Landfill Update

After some number crunching I have worked out that so far we have reduced the amount of waste that we send to landfill by 55%.

Reduction of Water Usage

The first step we have taken to reduce the usage of water was to measure how many times the toilets in the building were flushed each day. This was done on a few different days in order to get an average figure.

We then put a 2 litre plastic bottle, with the top removed, into each of the cisterns. What this does is to reduce the amount of water needed to re-fill the cistern after each flush by 2 litres.

After doing the maths we have discovered that we are using approx 33,500 litres of water LESS per year.

Saxon Recycling

During January we began further segregation of our waste and we now use the services of Saxon Recycling to help us with this.

Changes made since contact with Saxon....

1. All the cleaning rags that get used throughout the company are now placed into seperate bins and not put in with the general waste. Saxon take these away for cleaning.
2. Saxon are also buying our used aluminium plates that we use for offset printing for reprocessing.
3. All effluent from printing processes is now stored in containers and collected by Saxon for disposal.
4. Used plastic containers that had 'harzardous' products in them are now being stored and then collected by Saxon for cleaning and recycling
   

Saxon did their first 'pick-up' from us on January 23rd.