Environment Newsletter
January 2011
Kilwaughter 6th most Environmentally Responsible Company in N. I
ISO 14001 Achievements
Kilwaughter Chemical Co Ltd have gained ISO 14001 accreditation. This is an internationally accepted standard that sets out how to go about putting in place an Effective Environmental Management system. To gain this accreditation Kilwaughter Chemical Company Ltd were assessed by a third party (QAS International) to ensure all requirements set out in the standard were met.
Recognition of the certification demonstrates Kilwaughter Chemical Co Ltd’s continual commitment to help reduce environmental impact and better manage environmental risks in the future
This achievement is one of many environmental achievements at Kilwaughter Chemical Company Ltd.
10:10 Campaign to reduce Carbon footprint
The 10:10 campaign is a national campaign to decrease the company’s carbon dioxide emissions by 10% from 1st April 2010 – 1st April 2011.
Kilwaughter has implemented many actions to help reach this target, some of which include:
- Blast optimisation so that there is reduced rock breaking for greater rock face fragmentation
- Regular maintenance on the dryer has meant that it is working at its greatest efficiency
- A new mill has been installed which has seen a significant reduction in power consumption.
These are just a few of the actions that have been implemented to help achieve this target. The reduction is measured in energy usage against turnover. Recent calculations have indicated that the target is currently being met.
Benchmarking Survey
During the month of October 2010 the 12th Environmental benchmarking Survey was carried out by Business In the community. This seen Kilwaughter Chemical Co Ltd achieve the position of 6th most environmentally responsible company in Northern Ireland, earning them platinum status as well as maintaining their top position in the quarrying and mining sector.
Managing Director Simon McDowell commented “We are delighted to achieve the Platinum status in this independent survey. It is testament to the diligence and determination of our employees.”
The Northern Ireland ARENA Network Environmental Benchmarking Survey targets 250 of Northern Ireland’s largest public and private organisations. Now in its twelfth year, this longstanding initiative measures how well organisations are managing their environmental impacts and ranks participants in Quintiles in terms of their performance.
A full report from the 12th Benchmarking Survey can be downloaded here
Best Practice status
Kilwaughter Chemical Company Ltd are part of the Aggregates Credit Levy Scheme which addresses the environmental costs associated with aggregates extraction not already covered by regulation. By adopting this scheme it allows for an 80% reduction in the full rate of Levy for business operators and in return, environmental improvements on site must be carried out on an incremental basis. The Department of Environment stated that Kilwaughter had 14 areas of best practice as well as highlighting that the site had no non compliant issues and that no further improvements could be made.
Managing Director Simon McDowell commented: ‘We are delighted to see our efforts receive this notification from the D.O.E, which is testament to our ongoing employee commitment. We will of course work to maintain the high standards throughout our site at Larne’.