Martindales are proud to announce a new ‘green’ initiative that will see our production facilities lead the way on eco-friendly manufacturing. By recycling more of our waste products, and investigating new ways to operate our group of companies in a responsible manner, Martindales believe that we can make a positive contribution to the image of the glazing industry and minimise the impact on scarce resources such as landfill and raw materials.
To make sure we were truly operating at best practice, Martindales enlisted the expertise of a special analysis company to assist us in turning our environmental vision into reality. The process which began over 12 months ago looked at all aspects of the manufacturing and disposal process across the Martindales group of companies. Once this environmental audit process was completed, the new initiative was developed and has now been implemented.
Martindales have always operated a policy of returning our damaged/waste products to Bolton from our network of branches throughout the UK, including Northern Ireland. However instead of disposing of the products we have created a specific recycling facility for all the old windows and doors that are sent back. By systematically stripping down and sorting waste materials, recycling at Martindales has risen by more than 350% over the last 12 months. This means that between 70% and 80% of our total waste is now recycled, with between 20% and 30% now going to landfill.
With landfill costs rocketing and set to stay that way (over 33% increase in the last 12 months alone), recycling becomes not only a valuable green initiative, but it also helps the company control costs.
This has been a really interesting project for our group and has made all of our team more aware of what they do and how it can impact on the environment. The commercial aspects of this project are critical and it is great that we have been able to find a win-win solution where business productivity and environmental best practice coincide. The glazing industry is not yet renowned for its green credentials, but we feel that our new initiative has started to address this perception and lead the way for others to look at their own manufacturing and disposal processes.
Whilst this initial success is encouraging, Martindales are not complacent. This announcement is just the beginning of a long term commitment to reduce the environmental impact of the group’s operations. These early results have encouraged us to look into developing more eco-friendly techniques and to investigate new recycling technologies that will further our contribution to the industry’s environmental reputation.
