24 July 2013
Portakabin Wins 2nd Award for its Outstanding Achievements in Reducing Waste
Portakabin, the UK's leading modular building manufacturer, has won a second national award for its achievements in recycling and waste management.
Portakabin has received a Zero Waste Platinum Award at the Awards for Excellence in Waste Management and Recycling 2013. These awards celebrate the trailblazing efforts of businesses and local authorities that show better use of resources and recognise the leaders of innovation in this area.
This latest award follows the company's success in achieving a Gold Award at the Zero Waste Awards earlier this year.
Commenting at the awards ceremony at The Landmark Hotel in London, Channel 4 news presenter and awards host, Jon Snow, said, "These are the success stories of the green agenda. There is no-one in this country who does not know about recycling even if they don't do it. The finalists show that extraordinary changes are being achieved."
Derek Carter, Chief Executive of the Portakabin Group, said, "Our teams have made huge progress in the area of recycling and waste management and we were very proud to achieve our target of zero waste to landfill at our manufacturing centre in York a year ahead of schedule. We are therefore delighted that our success in this area has been recognised by such a prestigious national award."
"As a Group, we are genuinely committed to sustainability through our energy-saving and environmental programmes. Our modular building solutions already help our customers to reduce energy and minimise the use of natural resources and carbon emissions. We believe such a strong environmental commitment gives our customers the reassurance that choosing Portakabin as a supplier will support their own sustainable sourcing aspirations."
Portakabin has made significant progress over the past year in a number of areas as part of its commitment to further reducing impact on the environment and after setting itself a series of challenging sustainability targets.
Among its achievements are:
- A reduction in carbon output of 7.5 per cent as part of the Government's Carbon Reduction Commitment. This was principally achieved with a reduction in heating oil consumption, which was down 14 per cent compared to the previous year.
- Further improvements to the waste management process which have included waste streaming and segregation for recycling, with any non-recyclable waste being incinerated for power generation.
- The completion of a formal assessment of the environmental performance of the top 20 suppliers to Portakabin and new targets set for the coming year.
- The development of the new Portakabin Solus and Titan Energy-Saver range which can reduce energy usage by more than 60 per cent, allowing building occupiers to meet more stringent environmental and carbon reduction targets and reduce running costs. The buildings have been independently assessed and have the capability to achieve an Energy Performance Certificate 'A' rating, putting them among the best-performing sustainable buildings in the UK.
Applications for Portakabin modular solutions are diverse and include open plan office accommodation, security buildings, canteens, training suites, showers and changing rooms, health clinics and ward buildings, teaching blocks and even complete schools - for both interim and permanent applications.
Portakabin has the resources to deliver both bespoke projects and standardised accommodation solutions to organisations in public and private sectors, in the most challenging timescales, with less disruption, as well as less impact on the environment.
For further information about modular buildings for permanent and interim applications, visit www.portanews.co.uk, email information@portakabin.co.uk or call 0845 401 0020.
Editor's Notes
1. Portakabin modular buildings have a number of environmental advantages over site-based construction methods, including:
- Vehicle movements to site are reduced by up to 90 per cent compared to site-based construction methods, minimising congestion and carbon emissions.
- The Portakabin modular system performs well in excess of Building Regulations requirements for air tightness, minimising energy consumption and running costs.
- The structure of its modular buildings has significant recycled content - steel, aluminium, glass, particleboard and plasterboard
- Material waste with modular construction is reduced by up to 90 per cent (source: WRAP).
- Steel-framed modules are designed to be inherently easy to disassemble and recycle when a building becomes surplus to requirements or at the end of its life.
- The insulation materials used in walls, roofs and floors have an ozone depleting potential of zero to reduce any impact on the environment
- Up to 67 per cent less energy is required to produce a modular building than a traditionally-constructed facility (source: Arup/MPBA).
- Portakabin is accredited to ISO 14001 - the international environmental standard.
2. Portakabin, Portakabin Group, Titan and Portakabin Solus are registered trademarks.
