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Waste matters
Prior to the introduction of the R3 scheme, Allsignsgroup's waste was collected in 250kg wheelie bins and it is estimated that 12 bins were going to landfill every week at a cost of £150 per tonne. With an annual waste bill in excess of £30,000 there were sound financial reasons along with the environmental concerns to justify joining the R3 scheme. In fact, before the initiative was introduced, very little of the company's 220 tonnes of commercial waste produced each year was recycled.
This cost, combined with increasing environmental pressure from clients and the decision to go for ISO14001, prompted Allsignsgroup to join Robert Horne's R3 recycling scheme, which ensures a segregated waste recycling scheme is in operation.
Supplying to a European wide client base, graphics and event suppliers, Allsignsgroup, caters for a variety of applications. Its portfolio of work includes hoardings, display graphics, installations, illuminations, exhibitions and building wraps for clients such as Taylor Wimpey, Barratt Homes, Berkeley Homes, Crest Nicholson and Nokia. Faced with increasing pressure to consider all things green, both Allsignsgroup and its clients share a philosophy to reduce their impact on the environment throughout the whole of their operations.
Robert Horne Group is also no stranger to these issues and the pressure that printers and their end users face to ensure they have impeccable environmental credentials. The company is continually striving to reduce the environmental impact of its own operations and that of its customers.
As a result, the R3 recycling scheme was launched by the Robert Horne Group to alleviate the problem of waste disposal for signmakers. With emphasis on waste recovery, recycling and reuse, it is said to be the first corporate solution to the problem of recycling rigid substrates. The service is based on the principle of delivering more environmentally friendly sign and display products and taking away a customer's waste sign and display products for recycling.
Waste products are collected by the company's licensed and UK approved waste partners, who then granulate the waste in their UK facility ready to be made back into a variety of recycled plastic products.
Allsignsgroup contacted Robert Horne for advice and after initial discussions on how to implement the best methods for segregating waste, a simple plan was implemented starting off with a waste audit in their premises where the company's waste streams and volumes were analysed.
Metal cages were used to capture five main waste streams, comprising Dibond, acrylics, Foamex, general packaging and aluminium, each with their own clearly marked waste cage.
The first three waste streams, Dibond, acrylic and Foamex, are collected in the R3 recycling scheme while the general packaging waste is dealt with by the Council and the larger aluminium waste goes to specialist metal recyclers.
The metal cages were coloured coded by Allsignsgroup to promote the importance of segregation at source. Each waste type was allocated its own colour sign on the bin, making it easier for staff to separate their waste as required. To assist staff a huge printed banner was hung in the warehouse clearly showing what products can be recycled. A waste working committee was also set up and each production area created a waste manager to act as a point of reference for other staff.
Operations director for Allsignsgroup, Brad Candy, commented: "The R3 recycling initiative from Robert Horne allowed us to quickly introduce a successful recycling scheme, resulting in significant environmental improvements in diverting our waste away from landfill. The success of this scheme is down to the assistance from Robert Horne Group and to the shear enthusiasm and dedication of our staff to embrace a new way of working. We will continue to educate our staff about our recycling targets."
Since the introduction of the R3 recycling scheme at the end of June 2008, Allsignsgroup has successfully collected over 12 tonnes of Dibond, nearly four tonnes of Foamex and significant amounts of acrylic and packaging materials.
Major benefits of the scheme include reducing landfill costs by over 60 per cent, cutting monthly landfill costs from £2,500 to less than £1000 per month. Annually 130 tonnes of commercial waste is now diverted away from landfill and Allsigngroup's recycling rate has risen from zero to over 60 per cent. In fact, the company's waste products are now earning the company money.
Allsignsgroup's commitment to the environmental initiative do not end here and the company is currently in discussion with key customers on how to collect and process waste directly from installations, helping clients to hit their own environmental targets. Other measures Allsigngroup intends to implement to lessen its environmental impact include monitors for electricity usage, office waste recycling, enhanced route planning for the installations team and an employee car sharing scheme.
Managing director for Allsignsgroup, Mike Freely, enthused: "I am very impressed with the R3 recycling scheme. We are making significant savings as a company when you look, for example, at the saving of £18k per annum we can make just by reducing our landfill costs alone, plus we are reducing our impact on the environment. Over the short space of time since implementation, R3 has provided an impetus for a change in culture that we are now aligning through our overall CSR strategy."
With Robert Horne Group's support, Allsigngroup has proved that taking environmental issues into consideration can make a difference to commercial sign and graphic solutions providers: both in terms of meeting customer requirements and increasing profitability.
