Permadoor Opens the Door to a Greener Future

Published: 8th June 2007

Social housing specialist composite door manufacturer and supplier Permadoor has secured the environmental accreditation ISO 14001.

Specialising in the supply of made-to-measure, low maintenance exterior entrance doors to the social housing market, Permadoor operates three state of the art manufacturing operations in Upton-upon-Severn and Malvern. As part of company’s ongoing commitment to improve the efficiency and sustainability of its operation, Permadoor carried out a comprehensive review of all aspects of the business to identify its environmental impact and to assess and act upon opportunities to minimise it.

Steve Perks, environment manager, said: “The impact of business on the environment is clearly and rightly under greater scrutiny than ever before.
“As a business we have not shied away from our responsibilities and have been working to establish a strong policy that reduces the impact our operation has on the environment.” Employing environmental consultants Eco Group, Permadoor identified a number opportunities to reduce the amount of waste it generates. This included expanding existing paper and cardboard recycling facilities to segregate wood and plastic off cuts. Permadoor has also invested in new fully automated shrink wrapping equipment to elimininate cardboard waste and in new bailing equipment to facility more effective recycling of polythene.

Closing the loop on the process, the waste and off-cut PVC-U generated by the production process is recycled by Permadoor and used in frame reinforcement and edge-capping. As part of the ISO 14001 assessment, the company has taken steps to reduce the amount of waste that it generates, for example, cutting the amount of waste paper that it generates through better stock control, increased use of double-sided printing and where possible submission of electronic rather than printed tenders.

Permadoor has also carried out a full review of its energy use and is currently working with the Carbon Trust to reduce its consumption. As part of its accreditation programme, Permadoor ran a series of workshops to raise environmental awareness amongst its employees and to make them aware of their responsibilities. Steve Perks said: “It was hugely important to get staff on board, we went to great lengths to make sure that they understood what we were trying to achieve and their role in getting their. Their response was great and we have since identified three ‘environmental champions for each of our three operations, who are helping to drive the process forward.”

He adds that in addition to the environmental drivers, the ISO 14001 accreditation also made good business sense. He said: “The costs of raw materials, energy, water and disposal of waste are all rising. By making additional investment in our operation by introducing new measures to minimise our impact on the environment we are also making our business more efficient and effective.