Waste

Our employees are encouraged to consider how we can improve our environmental performance in all areas by reducing consumption, reusing materials and recycling wherever possible.

• In 2011, we continued to recycle waste in line with our KPI:

"To recycle more than 95% of all manufacturing waste produced."

• Of the 37,900 tonnes of waste produced (2010: 44,800), 98% was recycled (2010: 98%)
• One element of waste from the manufacturing process is sawdust.
  • In 2011, we converted over 16,600 tonnes of sawdust into energy at our Howden and Runcorn sites, with the sawdust fuelling eight wood combustion boilers that burn this waste to heat our factories. This equates to approximately 86k MWh of energy generated from sawdust in 2011.
  • In addition to this, we supplied over 5,000 tonnes of milled sawdust to a local manufacturer of animal bedding where the sawdust is recycled for use in bedding for horses, cattle and other livestock (2010: 3,000 tonnes).
• We continue with the initiative started in 2007 to recover and repair pallets which would otherwise have been scrapped. Last year we recovered or repaired more than 138,000 pallets (2010: 135,000).