Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 10th October 2024 Issue no. 1133
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Evans Vanodine, Sustainability: Where do we stand?
The term Sustainability is one which has grown in popularity in recent years amongst individuals and businesses alike. As we become aware of the effect we have on our surroundings, our habits and actions have changed in accordance. Many have become accustomed to changes we have had to make in our day to day lives to minimise impact on the environment, may it be driving an electric car or solar panels on roofs, everyone is doing something even if they don’t realise it – sustainability has become second nature, but left to the individual to interpret how they wish.
Sustainable Development can be defined as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (Brundtland Report, 1987). Sustainability forces us, as a business, to be inward looking and assess our current actions, to then look forward and ask ourselves ‘how will this impact future generations?’ This is a very prevalent question for a Family business such as ourselves, which drives an ulterior motive of sustainability, as much as we need to think about the future of the planet for those who will be impacted by our actions now, we must also think of this from the perspective of future generations of our family business, and question how we interpret sustainability to be able to evolve and exist in a futuristic sustainable world and as a business which can continue within the Evans Family for generations to come.
Established in 1919 by William Charles Evans, in Salford Manchester, formally of the name W.C. Evans, the company initially produced spraying essences for cinemas, then later expanding the product range to manufacturing disinfectants, liquid soaps and powders. Expansion continued over the years, and the product range grew including the creation of the first iodine-based disinfectant in the 1950’s, Vanodine, such an integral part of our history it was included in the company name.
The Evans Vanodine we know today, has been developing and manufacturing consistent, efficient and cost-effective cleaning and hygiene products for over 100 years, for Professional Hygiene and Livestock Protection sectors. With considerable growth in the last 40 years as the company moved to Preston, Lancashire, which allowed for the business to be committed to scientific and formulative expertise in the fight against infection due to extensive facilities now in place for microbiology, research and development and quality control, laboratories which the new site size provided. Despite changes and growth, the foundation of the company has remained consistent, due to the dedication of the Evans family and their colleagues. The company continues to be owned solely by the Evans family of whom the 4th and 5th generations of the family are working throughout the business. The workforce, being one of the greatest assets a company can have, has grown as a result of success and over a fifth of the workforce have been with the company over 25 years.
At Evans Vanodine, we are aware of the impact which any business can have on their immediate environment, therefore the company is dedicated to making improvements in products and processes to reduce negative implications. The business believes it has a duty of care over the community in which it is situated and as an Upper Tier COMAH site, preventing harm to both the people and nature surrounding the site is part of our everyday operations. The ISO14001 Certification for Environmental Management has been held by the business since 2007 and has been maintained for the past 16 years due to the countless efforts of Team Evans in continuous improvement of the environmental management systems.
As a chemical manufacturer, the environment doesn’t naturally go hand in hand with the industry in which we belong, therefore, in 2009 we set about changing this and our own views on the products which we manufacture. The WEIR rating system was launched to score Evans products against environmental factors and enabled us the capability to compare like for like products to conclude which had the lowest environmental impact. Due to the systems success, the lowest impact products from then on adorned WEIR rating logos. In 2021, the methodology behind the rating system was re-analysed due to changing environmental factors and to ensure the system remained relevant, such as accounting for the effects of transportation. This newly updated system and range of low impact products was relaunched as ‘The Greentick Range’. As a business, we ensure that we are up to date and educated in the negative impact which the incorrect use of chemicals can have, this is why we provide all of our customers with COSHH and risk assessment training, as well as training on the correct use of chemicals and how to act in case of a spillage with environmental precautions.
A huge buzz word which has largely become a part of many businesses’ sustainability journeys is Plastic. Removing plastic from a business’s supply chain is a fantastic goal, but is eradicating plastic in its entirety from our business the key? We wish it was that easy. We have adopted non-virgin, PCR content containers where possible, as well as promoting re-usability and recycling to push towards a better circular economy with our containers. We have however found, that recycled content isn’t always the best solution, this option on occasion can make less sense environmentally. When looking at chemical supply we are looking for high quality, reliable products, in durable containers that can be reused and or recycled with optimum performance. This is especially essential when looking at refills as you want the container to last. Recycled content material does not have the same lifespan as its virgin content counterparts due to the breakdown of bonds. Being environmentally conscious will sometime mean opting for a virgin material as it will last longer, and less waste will be generated.
When we source containers through our supply chain, we must also consider that some chemicals require a UN certified container. These must pass a range of parameters, including drop tests, and as such need to be robust and fit for purpose. Although innovations are now being furthered to include PCR content in these types of packs, certain authorisations do not allow for PCR content to come into contact with authorised products due to there being no studies to prove that it does not affect their efficacy. Therefore, as much as we want to have a complete product range using only containers with PCR content, this isn’t yet achievable due to accessibility in the supply chain as well as regulation. Therefore, promoting reusability remains to be a large part of our packaging sustainability vision, as well as reducing the plastic which we are adding to the environment through the formulation and creation of the Evans range of Super Concentrates, e:dose.
In addition to as investigating the impact of our products, we continue to push forward with analysing processes and ensuring that each and every action we take is the best option possible, in terms of sustainability and quality. Such projects on our processes have included taking a deep dive into our water usage and investigating potential improvements. Through this water saving project which began in 2018, whereby we looked at how we use this resource and if we could do so more efficiently, we saved 3 million litres from drain that year, and continue to improve on this to our current saving of 6 million litres off the baseline figure.
In 2020, as a business decided to take further action in terms of carbon responsibility and analysing our footprint. To do this, we teamed up with Planet Mark, through whom we committed to reducing our Carbon Footprint by 5% annually. Since our certification with The Planet Mark 3 years ago, Evans Vanodine are proud to have achieved 3 continuous years of carbon reduction through holding ourselves accountable to our impact. Joining The Planet Mark has been a positive driving force for change for our business, as we are now in our 4th year of improvements and have seen a total reduction of 28% from the baseline year. Improvement projects during this period have included replacing all office lighting with LED’s, updating our heating and cooling systems with HVAC systems, which can be controlled centrally, switching all company fleet vehicles from solely fossil fuel to either hybrid or electric, and we continue to reduce water consumption year-on-year.
Our journey with sustainability isn’t limited to the environmental impacts we have on our site. We recognise biodiversity as a pressing issue in itself, whilst we are in the early stages of looking to increase the biodiversity on our own site, we have teamed up with a local company The Bee Centre, to sponsor the management of 2 beehives which are close to our site. We are looking to further this project through other partnerships and improvements to enhance biodiversity on our own site as well as within our local vicinity.
Environment although the main topic people think of when they hear the word sustainability is not the only aspect, we must also draw a focus to the social and human factors. As a business we provide jobs and careers for over 150 people, many within the local area, supporting them and their families with good working conditions, protective policies, living wages and where they require additional help, a confidential helpline is provided.
The human and social aspects are ones which can be overlooked in most cases when considering the environment, at Evans Vanodine, as a family business, we like to be involved and present within the local community; recent contributions have included our annual food drive for The Foxton Centre, a homeless shelter in the Centre of Preston, helping individuals, families and victimised women to get off the streets and providing them with shelter, warmth, hygiene and food. We also take pride in sponsoring a local women’s football team for their kits and essential match supplies. There are also nonlocal charities which we get involved with as a business throughout the year, such a MacMillian through hosting coffee mornings for the workforce and Save the Children Christmas Jumper Days, as well as The Hygiene Bank. Not only are these events good for the charities, but they also help with staff morale as members of Team Evans can give back to their local community.
As a family business, the future is a constant topic of conversation, discussing where we want to be and how we will get there. Goals keep us on track to achieving what’s possible in the future, this includes our 5-year sustainability strategy. Throughout this strategy, we have committed to improving our carbon position year-on-year. Current goals include electrical improvements to increase energy efficiency, as well as water and waste reductions. The next major sustainability project on site is to reduce our energy usage further by replacing the lighting in the factory and warehousing facilities to efficient LED lighting. All projects are all designed to reduce our carbon footprint, achieve sustainability strategy goals, and help us in maintaining our Planet Mark certification. In the future, we plan to look more into biodiversity and where we stand as part of an industrial site. By auditing our surroundings and allowing for species to find green spaces through nature. As our business grows and evolves we continue to acknowledge the impact our actions can have to not just our local environment, colleagues and community, but we must think further afield into the environments in which our products travel to, how they’re being used and how future generations of not just our business, but of the planet will be effected by what we do today, therefore, we must ensure that we reduce our impact year-on-year. We ensure we are aware and educated on how being a chemical manufacturer can contribute to sustainability, and we understand that it is our duty today to do what we can to make sure there is a tomorrow.
5th October 2023