A company wide focus on sustainability as well as a suite of water pumping and transfer products that enable consumers to achieve high efficiency in their water and energy use, has won Davey Products the Large Business Award in the 2008 Premiers Sustainability Awards.
Presented by Victoria’s Premier John Brumby in Melbourne last evening, the award recognises the multiple approaches which Davey Products has implemented especially at its national headquarters and manufacturing base in the Melbourne suburb of Scoresby.
Davey spokesman, Max Ekins, said that the award success has flowed from a company wide approach which has created a house of quality concept incorporating all three aspects of the bottom line- people, planet and profit.
“Davey has embraced sustainability in all our internal processes, factory accommodation and new product development.
“Twelve months ago we established ‘Environmental Teams’ within a cross section of the company, from shop floor personnel to our quality, marketing and engineering personnel with each Team having up to five members who operate under the aspects of Landfill Wastes, Recycling and Emissions.
“Davey Products has also invested close to $200,000 in capital projects which complement the sustainability objectives”
Max Ekins said that some of the key achievements over the eight months that the project has been in train include reducing and recycling all grades of waste to reduce landfill from 350 cubic metres to 65 cubic metres a month – an 82% reduction by volume and 42% by weight.
The major gains were recorded in reducing cardboard and paper and plastic wrapping waste.
In addition, Davey has installed a conservation project harvesting the rain water which falls on the building roof to show the value that rain water can contribute in an industrial setting.
Over a million litres of rainwater has been harvested in the past year and stored which is used to flush all the building toilets as well as supplying rinse water for the powder coating pre-treatment line.
“This alone has saved 50% of the site’s potable water consumption” Max Ekins notes.
The environmental team has also worked on reducing the emissions of CO² by developing alternatives that allow continued efficient operation of the factory while producing reduced emissions.
“While our overall output has remained unchanged Davey has achieved a 30% reduction in Green House Gases per unit made” Max Ekins added.
Davey Water Products’ sustainability concept has also extended to the products which the company offers to the market.
These include the unique Celsior and Silensor water cooled pump motors for swimming pool and spa bath pumps.
A typical result is a 30% reduction in the energy consumed in water heating.
The pumps are also manufactured with 25% less material and 60% less energy consumed in the production process, yielding an estimated saving of 3,277 tonnes of GHG (Green House Gases) over the traditional air cooled motors.
The Davey RainBank automatic rainwater harvesting controller is a commercial product that allows home owners to utilise stored rain water over potable water for toilet and laundry applications.
“We estimate there are now 40,000 RainBank systems installed across Australia contributing close to a 40% water saving of the average 360,000 litres per home per year saving a massive 5,760 megalitres per year of potable water.”
Max Ekins noted also that Davey Products has worked closely with numerous government and industry initiatives from the Manufacturing Best Practice – Lean to Green Master Class, the Victorian Government’s Savewater! Alliance program and the Green Plumbers program which has now trained over 4,000 plumbers in water and energy efficient products and practices.
“Achieving success in the 2008 (Victorian) Premiers Award for Sustainability in the Large Company Category is a signal result for all at Davey Water Products.
“I anticipate our success will encourage many other businesses to review their internal sustainability practices and procedures and with a company wide approach be able to reap significant benefits” Max Ekins concluded.