| Specialist
cladding and flooring manufacturer Steni UK has achieved ISO
14001:2004 (1861EMS001) for its environmental management
systems. |
 |
| The company
produces glass fibre reinforced polyester resin cladding
panels and a flooring composite of glass fibre polyester
resin and stone from its UK plant near Wrexham in North
Wales where the local environmental officer is already a
regular witness to Steni’s independent emissions tests.
|
|
Steni gained the international standard from ISOQAR for its
commitment to being environmentally conscious and
identifying and acting on operations that interact with or
affect the environment, such as the supply of raw materials,
waste disposal, air emissions, use of energy and design of
products. |
|
Environmental manager Bryn Williams led a team which
developed systems to manage these aspects and minimise the
company’s impact on the environment as well as ensure all
relevant environmental legislation is complied with an
ongoing basis. |
|
As part of this process, a number of environmental
objectives were set and achieved, including a reduction in
landfill waste of 23% and in electricity use of 18.5% in
2009 compared with 2008. The use of Styrene has also been
reduced by 54% in the same period. |
|
In addition, all 30 staff at Steni’s Ruabon plant have
undergone third-party training in environmental and chemical
awareness and spillage control and are independently and
individually tested on a regular basis for workstation
chemical emissions, dust annihilation and noise levels under
CoSHH regulations. |
|
As well as being responsible for environmental issues and
practices in the workplace, they are also encouraged to
embrace them at home and Steni management have implemented
procedures to help them with this. |
|
As part of the ISO 14001 certification, Steni analysed its
impact on the environment generally by reviewing its process
and cleaning activities and replacing less environmentally
friendly products. |
|
And closer to its own home, the company works side by side
with the local authority’s environmental officer and North
Wales fire service to develop optimum environmental and
safety procedures. |
|
Bryn Williams said: “Large organisations have been actively
encouraging their suppliers to adopt a more environmentally
friendly approach to their manufacturing processes for some
time but I am pleased to say this is an area we were already
actively involved in. |
|
“The environmental management standard will run alongside
our existing quality management standard which was another
concept that we as a progressive company actively embraced.” |
