Continuous improvement ensuring the best possible environmental performance and waste management are high priorities for Bex Design.
At Bex Design we’ve always taken our environmental responsibilities very seriously. Particularly our efforts to reduce waste, recycle and become more energy efficient have gathered considerable pace over the last few years, helping to make us greener as well as saving money.
Energy Efficiency
We benefit from a 30KW solar panel array installed on the roof of our factory. This PV array supplies 20% of all our energy requirements on average through the year.
We commission a leading energy management company to conduct a full audit of our facilities which has resulted in the following further improvements:
> The replacement of all our office and shop floor lighting with auto-dimming low-energy LED units.
> The shutdown of all our machines overnight whenever possible. This has resulted in the additional benefit of reducing servicing requirements by 1/3.
> Ducting heat from our 4 CNC cutting machines to heat our factory extension (below), negating the requirement for any other heating.
The impact of these changes has meant that whilst we have expanded significantly over the years, our energy usage has actually reduced. Great news for the environment and good news for our business.
Reducing Waste
The waste we produce is largely screen ink, cleaning fluids and polycarbonate and acrylic sheeting. For nearly 20 years our ink waste, which is classed as hazardous waste, has been collected and disposed of safely by a specialist company, and our polycarbonate and acrylic waste materials have been collected and recycled, rather than going to landfill.
Chemical reclaim is installed on-site, allowing us to extract ink residue from our screens during cleaning. This is then collected and recycled alongside our other ink waste.
We are able to minimise the number of waste collections required thanks to our waste compactor (above). Upon installation in 2016, this compactor immediately reduced our waste collections from once a week, to just once a month.
We also minimise the amount of waste sent to landfill – thanks to our long-term collaboration with recycling and resource management partner SUEZ UK, 99.8% of our waste is taken to Avonmouth where it is recycled and converted into renewable energy.
“The impact of these ongoing improvements over the years means that whilst we expand and optimise our plant and factory space, our energy usage is actually reduced. It is great news for both the environment and for our customers.
We are always looking at further ways to improve our environmental performance and waste management, to build on the measures we have already put in place.”
