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Leeds’ Agfa Graphics plant wins top business award for sustainability
November 24, 2011
Agfa Graphics wins the Arup Award for Sustainable Manufacturing at the Manufacturing Excellence Awards
24 November 2011
Agfa Graphics’ Leeds plant was rewarded for its efforts to eliminate waste and encourage biodiversity with a top business award at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ Manufacturing Excellence Awards, held in London last night (Wednesday 23 November).
The award ceremony was compered by Alistair Campbell, and attended by Mark Prisk MP, Margaret Beckett MP as well as a host of other top business names.
Graham Cooper Director Agfa Graphics Ltd said:
“We are extremely proud of our site’s achievements in the sustainability arena. We could not have achieved so much without the committed support of all of our employees. Being winners in the prestigious Manufacturing Excellence programme recognises the efforts of the whole Leeds team.”
While Stephen Tetlow, Chief Executive of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers said:
“Agfa Graphics’ win is hugely encouraging for manufacturing in Leeds and UK manufacturing more generally.
“The Manufacturing Excellence programme is not just about celebrating manufacturing success around the country, but about providing practical advice for businesses to support them on their journey during these difficult economic times.”
The Agfa Graphics plant based in Leeds won the Arup Award for Sustainable Manufacturing.
Since 2005, the plant has worked relentlessly raising standards in all areas to survive and prosper. A key area of improvement has been in sustainability which the Leeds employees actively support and where significant business benefits have been realised.
The plant sent its last skip of general waste to landfill in June 2010. The company now has a policy of zero general waste to landfill, compared to the 6,000 tonnes of waste produced in 2005. Packaging has been redesigned to remove 9 tonnes a year of packaging waste from the plants customers’ waste stream.
A heat exchanger system was installed in 2010 which reduces gas consumption by recycling waste process heat to provide heating for the factory while external temperatures remain above 4 degrees (some gas is still used below 4 degrees).
The plant has successfully drilled a pilot water borehole and has received consent to drill a production water borehole to source its own water in December 2011. In addition, there is an active biodiversity programme on site.
Finally there is an ambitious programme underway to build on the plant’s existing successes and go ‘off grid’ to further enhance the sustainability of the Leeds site in the coming years.
The Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ Manufacturing Excellence programme is the most successful and long established manufacturing support programme in the UK, and the only one that provides a detailed benchmarking and assessment process to help improve manufacturing businesses.
As part of the Manufacturing Excellence programme, companies can get a free consultancy package worth £20,000. Companies that enter are asked to conduct an in-depth self assessment and those who complete one or more of the eight parts receive a free, bespoke and confidential benchmark report. The best companies in each module receive a free visit from a team of expert assessors who verify the audit responses and offer practical advice and suggestions for the business. The winning companies in each category then receive an award at the Manufacturing Excellence Awards.
Manufacturing Excellence is supported by PwC, Autodesk, PP Business Improvement, The ERA Foundation, Lombard, WMG, Arup, and Barclays Corporate.