REDUCING OUR CARBON FOOTPRINT
With a strong tradition of maximising efficiency and minimising environmental impact, Velden goes beyond compliance and actively works to improve our environmental performance in all activities.
Between 2012 and 2014 we reduced our carbon footprint by 39 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). This was an 8% reduction in emissions during a time of an overall increase in production.
50KW SOLAR PANEL INSTALLATION
Velden has always done its best to recycle, reduce waste and make the most of available technology. To this end, Velden decided to participate in the governments’ Feed-in Tariff scheme – people prepared to invest in renewable technologies such as solar PV receive a payment for every Kilowatt hour of electricity generated for 25 years.
The 50 Kilowatt system with over 200 high efficiency panels also provide additional free electricity and boosts supply capacity to the site. The panels cover the entire south facing main roof of Columbia Mill and feed into state of the art invertors to bring the voltage in line with mains power.
INTELLIGENT FACTORY LED LIGHTING SYSTEM
We recognised that our lighting system throughout our mill was consuming a significant amount of energy and decided to invest in a new, efficient DALI based lighting system. The investment in this smart system to regulate the lighting and switching to LED fittings will not only reduce our carbon footprint but will also significantly decrease our energy consumption. This system continually adjusts output levels based on the natural daylight entering our building and regulates the lighting by reacting to movement.
All lighting can be controlled and monitored from PC and tablet, allowing us complete flexibility to adjust lighting layouts / levels and proactively maintain all fittings and hardware.
Austin Kitchen – Velden MD
ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
We have invested in an award winning network controlled system which regulates the temperature throughout our factory. This extremely smart system optimises burner control, regulates the heating across different zones and is able to adapt to prevailing weather conditions. This system has provided substantial cost savings and allows us to be more environmentally friendly by using less fuel.
USED COOLANT TREATMENT & OIL SEPARATION
Our responsible attitude extends to the treatment of oil and coolants used throughout manufacture. We process them in-house until they are separated and the tramp oil and the remains of the coolant are sent for recycling whilst the remaining water is clean enough to go down the drain.
SWARF & OFF-CUT METALS RECYCLING
Velden has teamed up with a local recycling company, who provide a swarf collection and recycling service, which greatly reduces handling of swarf and therefore the chance of spills and pollution. A variety of storage bins are provided free of charge for shop floor use and the full containers are collected on a weekly basis. Each bin has a serial number to enable tracking and a detailed report on what has been sent for recycling.
RESPONSIBLE ATTITUDE
In an effort to continually improve environmental performance, Velden cultivate an environmentally-friendly attitude amongst employees by encouraging them to follow the waste hierarchy of “reduce, re-use, recycle”. Other initiatives include:
