DIRECTOR HONOURED WITH ENGINEERING FELLOWSHIP

Professor Gareth Hankins, Director of Group Manufacturing Services at Renishaw, has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

The Academy’s Fellowship represents the UK’s best engineering researchers, innovators, entrepreneurs, business and industry leaders.

Professor Hankins joined Wotton- under-Edge-based Renishaw as an apprentice aged 16 in 1988, before achieving a degree in Manufacturing Systems and Manufacturing Management at Cardiff University.

He was appointed to his current role as the Director of Renishaw’s Group Manufacturing Services Division in

GWP boxes clever to reduce waste

Packaging and materials handling specialist GWP Correx has announced the launch of a new returnable packaging system, which aims to cut the waste created by single-use cardboard boxes.

The Rapitainer system –manufactured from durable Correx plastic – is targeted at businesses using high volumes of standard corrugated cardboard packaging.

The returnable boxes can yield significant cost savings when compared with single-use cardboard boxes, with reductions of up to 75 per cent possible.

2006, before also being made the Director of its Irish subsidiary in 2011. “Being made a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering is a real honour for me personally, but it also recognises the successes of the manufacturing team,” he said.

Up to 60 engineers are elected to the Academy each year by their peers. This includes Honorary and International Fellows who have made an exceptional contribution to engineering.

Renishaw is one of the world’s leading engineering and scientifi c technology companies, with expertise in precision measurement and healthcare.

Ian Cook, Managing Director at the Cricklade-based company said: “Many businesses may be needlessly wasting money by using single trip transit packaging.

“As a typical example, single use cardboard boxes could cost around £1.50 per unit, depending on their specification. While an equivalent Rapitainer could cost between £10 and

£15 per unit, it can be used for well in excess of 200 trips.

Ian Heskins, Business Development Director at GWP Group, added: “Most people think of plastic as the very opposite of environmentally-friendly.

“But by reusing the cartons over hundreds of trips, the materials and energy involved in manufacturing and then recycling single-use cardboard boxes is greatly reduced. Plus, Rapitainer is fully recyclable at the end of its useful life.”