This week is National Recycling Week, where people up and down the country will be trying to find ways to be more sustainable in their day to day lives. The efforts of individuals will of course play its part in helping the UK to become a greener place to live, however it is big industry like manufacturing that will make by far the great impact.
Over the last few years as a nation, and indeed as a global community, we are seeing the devasting effects of global warming. From the record beating heat waves experienced here in the UK over the summer, to the years of drought in East Africa, deadly floods in Pakistan, wildfires in Australia and America.
In response the UK Government has set out its Net Zero Strategy for 2050 which aims to position the UK as the ‘leader to net zero’, and key to this target is manufacturing’s contribution to the overall goal.
As the global leader in life safety manufacturing, here at Hochiki we take our responsibility very seriously and are actively going above and beyond the targets set out by the government to those in our industry.
Our Compliance Manager for Hochiki Europe, Shane Bartlett, explains
“I would go as far as saying our aim over the next few years is to become world class in sustainable life safety manufacturing. We of course always comply with all applicable laws, regulations and standards relating to the environment and where appropriate we aim to exceed or supplement these with our own exacting standards.”
Hochiki Europe have set KPIs which are regularly reviewed and perhaps most importantly ingrained into ways of working to ensure buy in and support from every employee.
“Some of the ways in which we are doing this target setting, is working towards 100% recyclable packaging across all our products and re-using rather than disposing of materials and packaging wherever possible during the manufacturing process, including materials supplied to us. Our teams are key to meeting this target, they play an active role in making this happen.”
It’s also important that manufactures are aware of water usage. Bartlett explains
“At Hochiki we monitor how much water is used in the manufacturing process, how water is used and how it can be recycled and re-used. Our water usage has a direct impact on the local environment and healthy waters are essential for people and nature to survive".
As well as manufacturing life safety products, we also design our own market leading fire detection devices and systems.
“The investment in our R&D department (and indeed customer feedback) is what has set us apart as the leaders for our industry – it's why our customers trust us. Reviewing our own product lifecycle and what happens to products at the end of their life is something which is ongoing at Hochiki. We also want to help our customers with their own green targets, for example we enable our customers to return products when they’ve reached the end of their life and then ensure products which are returned are safely and correctly disposed of.
The biggest driver for a lot of businesses who are active in their desire to become more sustainable is that a happy by-product is improvements in customers experience, because processes become slicker. This is something we have experienced at Hochiki, so it’s a win win for our business, our customers and ultimately the planet".
Hochiki have led the life safety market for over 100 years, and by continuing to improve our sustainability will ensure we lead the way for many years to come.
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Hochiki Europe (UK) Ltd
Grosvenor Road, Gillingham Business Park, Gillingham, Kent ME8 0SA
Main switchboard +44 (0)1634 260133 | email [email protected]
