Juniperbrings production home

Andrew Langley,managing director of Juniper Trading explains thesteps it has takentosustainability

"Juniper has been ISO4001for many years and have during that time always had asustainabilitystrategy to reduce our impact on theenvironment through a process of continual improvement. In the past this has resulted in us changing over all our lights in our 22,000sq ft factoryto LEDs, introducing daylight panels in the factorytoreduce theneed forlighting, investments in new moreenergy efficient compressors and boilers and switching last year to 100% renewable electricity. We also have managed down our waste to landfill to 5% and have an aspiration to get to zero wastetolandfill by 2025.We do not use anysingleuse packaging as standard.

Ourbiggest single initiative though would be theongoing process overthe last 10 years of reshoring production from China and India to theUK. This creates theissue that we will use moreUK energy,but on agloballevel, that is better as we arereducing energy used in thefar this withGRS or RCScertification where possible and all organic goods must be GOTS certified.

Going forward, information relating to sustainabilitywill be added to products and packaging wherepossible.

In addition, thebusiness has installed 548 solar panels to generateover203,000 kWh of electricityintheir first year,offsetting 48 tonnes of CO2emissions annually

Alow energy LEDlighting upgrade to the warehouse will save 66% energy and 250 tonnes of carbon emissions over10years.

Abaler is being installed to compress bothcardboard and plastic forcollection and recycling.

Follow The Process

Oldeani takesits social responsibilityto being asustainable business seriously “Weare alwayslooking at ways to improve sustainabilityinour products and processes and reduce our impact on theenvironment”,saysmanaging director Malcolm Fritschy.“Consumers are demanding sustainabilityinproducts and while this challenges theway we work it is an opportunityfor us to improveand make east, whichwillbegenerated by coal. We have also massivelypivoted ourproducts to sustainable materials, discontinuing lines that we felt no longer meet our criteria forsustainabilityand developing awardwinning new products.

As amanufacturer we face abig challenge to captureand calculateour carbon footprint. However, that is the goal we have set ourselves and we are about to beginworking withabusiness mentor who is head of sustainability foralarge local companyand we are recruiting forapost graduateplacement during their Masters course from the UniversityofNorthampton. The oldadage that “you can’t manage what youcan’t measure” is never moreimportant than here. However, we do not underestimate thetask whichisfar greater than anoffice based business, especially when youare dealing withthe vast number of global rawmaterials that we buy changes forthe better.Companies that can’t meet these demands will be squeezed out of themarket.”

I’dliketoinvest in asolar scheme but our roof contains asbestos and the costs arehugetoreclad. Even if it were possible Iamtoldthat our local electricity infrastructuresupplier would be unable to connect us to thegrid to receive generated solar electricitydue to their owncapacityissues in our area.

Sometimes companies that want to invest can’t because of forces outside their control.However we will continue to lookfor ways that we cancontinuously reduce our carbon footprint."

Sourcing is thestarting point and Oldeani is ISO accredited so only works withsuppliers that cansupply compliant products. Design is carefully considered to ensureproducts arepractical and made to last. ManyOldeani products nowholdthe Global RecycleStandard(GRS).

Wherepossible materials have been replaced withsustainable options suchas moving theproduction of bags from nylon to RPET, whichoffers thesamequalities and reduces wasteinlandfill.

Oldeani uses only FSC certified packaging and has replaced bags withcornstarch liners. It is in theprocess of moving all of its product packaging to kraft boxes which don’t requirelaminationsoare simple to recyclewhile giving ahighquality look.

Scope Forimprovement

The road to sustainabilitycan be long and hard, especially once businesses start to examine theirsupply chains.

In 2022, The Outdoors Companybegan directly measuring theScope 1and Scope 2 impact of its business through its own emissions and energy choices. Using a trackerand energy system to measureand report on howmanymetrictonnes of CO2 were created by direct impact, it wasable to beginexploring various carbon offsetting schemes.

To tackle theupstream Scope 3impact of thebusiness, it tries to get as much information from its partner brands on what stage eachisat, and monitor theimpact of promoting and supplying that brand. This helps withtransparencyfor customers about theirproduct’senvironmental footprint.

Having workedhardonenvironmentally sustainable products, thecompanywas proud when its Rab Downpour Eco wonthe BPMA ApparelProduct of theYearAward.It is made from 100% recycled materials and Rab offers alifetime guarantee to keep its products out of landfill.

Bicaimsfor life-longstory

Bic Graphic Europe began its sustainabilityprogramme 20 years ago

From theinception of thecompanythe Bic ethos has alwaysbeentoonly use what is necessarytomakehigh-quality, long-lasting products, and overthe past two decades thecompanyhas taken that concept further withanumber of innovations to increase thesustainability of Bic products during manufacture, while in use, and at theend of life.

The Bic Ecolutions range waslaunched in 2003 withthe introduction of theBic Evolution Ecolutions, agraphitepencil made from recycled yogurt pots and fridges. In thefollowing years Bic has developed additional writing instruments in theEcolutions range, produced from a range of recycledmaterials suchasscrap car parts, fruit and vegetabletrays, and scrap from pharmaceutical waste, or from bio-based alternative materials.

In an effort to makesustainable choices even simpler,Bic Graphic has also reduced thecost of this recycled Ecolutions ballpen range to thesameprice as thestandard versions, so thereisnopremium for selecting thegreen option

The latest addition to theproduct range is theSuper Clip Origin. This twist-action ballpen is made from natural ingredients suchascastor oil, sawdust and talc, resulting in abio-based material composed of natural polymers without petroleum, oil or fossil fuels.

Bic is also focussed on what happens to its products at theend of theusable life, and in 2011 it committed to funding a writing instrument collection programme in partnership withTerracycle. Since then, morethan 60 million pens have been recycled,tobeturnedintopicnic benches, planters and other outdoor products.

The Bic Graphic Europe factory is poweredby100% renewable energy,and thecompanysets regular goals to improvethe societal and/or environmental footprint of Bic products. The group has commitments to reduce theamount of virgin petroleum plastic and to ensurethat 100% of consumer packaging is reusable, recyclable or compostable.

In 2023 Bic Graphic continues to improve its sustainable offering, by launching afreerefill service to extend thelifeofanumberofbest-selling pens.

Future Targets

Stormtechisanother garment companyonamission to make clothing moresustainable through product design, sourcing, and compliance. The introduction of its PureEarthrange represents another step forward. Adecadeincreation, PureEarth uses content from Recycled Polyester (RPET) and Certified BCI Cotton. By turning discarded plastics into