Here at Bex Design & Print, we take our responsibility to the environment and sustainability seriously. We are committed to minimising the impact of our activities on the planet through waste reduction, recycling and energy efficiency.
Our efforts have gathered considerable pace over the last few years, helping to make us greener as well as saving money.
Energy efficiency
In 2014 we installed a 30KW solar panel array on the roof of our factory. Ever since, the panels have supplied 20% of all our energy requirements on average throughout each year.
This has helped to significantly reduce our impact on the environment and, with the price of energy rising sharply, reduce our electricity costs.
We also commissioned a leading energy management company to conduct a full audit of our facilities which resulted in further improvements.
On the recommendation of the audit, we replaced all our office and shop floor lighting with auto-dimming low-energy LED units, and started to shut down all our machines overnight whenever possible, resulting in the additional benefit of reducing servicing requirements by a third.
Additionally, we ducted heat from our four CNC cutting machines to heat our factory extension, 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.
Waste reduction
At Bex, the waste we produce is largely screen ink, cleaning fluids and polycarbonate and acrylic sheeting.
Our ink waste, which is classed as hazardous waste, is collected and disposed of safely by a specialist company, and our polycarbonate and acrylic waste materials are 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. 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.
We will continue to seek ways to reduce waste and become even more sustainable in the years to come.
