05 June 2013
Portakabin Wins Zero Waste Gold Award – The Highest Accolade for Sustainable Waste Management
Portakabin, the UK's leading modular building manufacturer, has received the highest accolade at the Zero Waste Awards in recognition of its achievements in sustainable waste management.
Portakabin was awarded a prestigious Gold Award - only the 5th time this accolade has been presented since the awards began.
The awards, organised by letsrecycle.com, recognise excellence in waste prevention and re-use, recycling and energy recovery and are open to all organisations in both the public and private sectors.
Commenting on this latest success, Derek Carter, Chief Executive of the Portakabin Group, said, "We are absolutely delighted to receive this award which is a fantastic testament to our staff across the business and at every level - from facilities management to design, building engineering and manufacturing."
"We have seen very significant reductions in waste over the past three years as a result of our strong commitment to re-using and recycling materials and by engineering waste-generating operations out of the manufacturing process. To achieve national recognition for this work and our achievements to date gives our customers, staff and suppliers even greater confidence in the sustainability of our approach and our accommodation solutions."
Steve Eminton, editor of letsrecycle.com, said, "These awards could not be more current in the face of forthcoming legislative changes. We believe that they will contribute to continual improvement and will help to build a community of like-minded, innovative organisations who can come together to network and share best practice in minimising impact on the environment."
The Zero Waste Gold Award was presented to Portakabin for its many recycling initiatives and achievements which include:
- Succeeding in its objective of zero waste to landfill at its manufacturing centre in York a year ahead of its December 2013 target
- Setting up 18 different waste streams for recycling materials from metals and timber to vinyl flooring, batteries and cabling
- Using new materials in the manufacture of Portakabin buildings that have a recycled content of 35 per cent
- Designing out the use of painted components, reducing airborne solvent emissions by 20 per cent
- Increasing awareness among staff of the importance of recycling and waste minimisation using 'tool box talks' to encourage new ideas, internal newsletters, monthly staff briefings, and training to instil the discipline to recycle
- The recovery of extracted air from the wood working unit and its re-use for heating
- Sawdust and chippings collected and bagged for direct re-use as animal bedding and chipboard production
- Plasterboard off-cuts re-used as soil conditioner
- Cooking oil waste to fuel food delivery vehicles
- The launch of the new Energy-Saver range to enable Portakabin customers to reduce energy usage by more than 60 per cent, and benefit from some of the UK's best-performing sustainable buildings.
The Zero Waste Awards are sponsored by SAICA NATUR and Wastecare.
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 0010.
Portakabin is a registered trademark.
