Environment
Victoria takes its responsibility to the environment seriously.
We are pleased to report that our Dandenong site in Australia achieved ISO 14001 Environmental Certification earlier this year and is the first Environmental Certification Scheme to be recognised under the Australian Green Building Council’s assessment framework for third party environmental schemes.
This is a significant achievement which gives us the genuine environmental credentials necessary to be considered a serious and credible participant in the commercial market segment in Australasia.
The year saw Victoria Carpets in the UK make further progress on reducing its energy consumption. Further efficiencies in factory heating, lighting and insulation led to a reduction in gas and electricity consumption, and improvements to latex formulas have meant that less heat is now required to back the carpet - reducing energy consumption.
Recycling was also improved further - in addition to recycling all cardboard, plastic and most electrical and metal waste, we are now able to recycle an increasing proportion of our process waste. These recycling opportunities are made possible by the pliable nature of Victoria Carpets Ltd's "Loc-Weave" backing. Most other carpet manufacturers would be unable recycle carpet process waste in the same way because of the high proportion of Calcium Carbonate filler in their carpets, which makes them unsuitable for grinding down into recyclable components. The Company has invested in a semi-automatic baling press to facilitate the handling, storage and transport of this waste, and is using backloading of otherwise empty lorries to get the baled waste to the recycler without incurring any additional road miles.
Many of the energy saving initiatives contribute towards the company's continuing eligibility for the Climate Change Levy (CCL) rebate scheme. The Company is also required to register for the new Climate Reduction Commitment (CRC), but Group energy usage falls below the threshold at which the company would be required to take part in the proposed "league tables" of carbon reduction performance. The fact that the UK companies have Climate Change Agreements (CCA's) already in place in the form of their CCL rebate schemes means that once registration for the CRC is complete, we will be able to continue to concentrate our efforts on carbon reduction though the CCL rebate scheme.
Several future ways in which energy usage can be further reduced have already been identified and more investment in this area is budgeted for the new financial year.
All of the Group’s vehicles are frequently inspected and serviced, which is a mandatory requirement in the UK from VOSA (Vehicle & Operators Services Agency) with which we comply fully. We also aim to ensure our VOSA OCRS (Operator Compliance Risk Score) score for maintenance and roadworthiness remains in the Green zone as defined by VOSA. Our planned fleet replacement programme will ensure that all LGV fleet vehicles are compliant with either Euro 4 or Euro 5 emission control levels by the end of 2010. Full loads are carried whenever possible and “backloaded,” again where possible. Any contract hire operators used are surveyed to ensure they comply and operate within the current legislative standards.
Video conferencing facilities telephone conferencing have been installed in both the UK and Australia to reduce travel wherever possible.
Water recycling and conservation continues to be a major environmental focus at our Australian manufacturing sites. In addition to the recently commissioned dyehouse water recycling plant at our Bendigo yarn mill, plans are now well advanced to install similar equipment at the Castlemaine dyehouse later this year. At the Dandenong carpet factory we are working with the Carpet Institute of Australia, Environmental Protection Authority and Sustainability Victoria on a joint project to reclaim water and latex wastes from our finishing process. If successful, this will reduce the volume of prescribed waste generated by an estimated 100 tonne per annum.
In Canada and the USA, we promote a range of products under the name of Nature’s Carpet® which are all biodegradable and of ultra low toxicity. The products include Tufted carpet, traditional woven Wiltons, carpet tiles and a wool underlay, and which all meet the high standards demanded by both the environmental movement and by individuals with high sensitivity to chemical toxins. We will also be shortly rolling these products out in the UK.
Energy consumption per square metre of carpet manufactured
Energy consumption per kilogram of yarn produced
