Sustainability Stauff UK has a very stringent approach to sustainability and has focused keenly on the topic for over two years. I head up the company’s sustainability strategy and have established a Stauff UK green team. This team comprises members from all areas of the business. We are all likeminded in being dedicated to having an ethical approach to life and a desire to ensure the planet we all share is looked after for future generations. The green team has already generated a wealth of good ideas, many of which have been implemented already. Going paperless One initiative has been to remove the use of paper hand towels that can’t be recycled after they are sodden after hand drying. Similarly, the material towels on rollers are very environmentally ‘unfriendly’ due to the exceptionally hot washes they receive from the service teams after use. So, we have moved to eco hand dryers throughout all our facilities. This has helped us to cut paper usage substantially. Indeed, the Stauff Group now plans to become completely paperless by 2025. To meet this target, many members of the service team and office-based members of staff now use electronic devices such as tablet PCs for note taking etc. Solar panels In terms of changes to our main headquarters in Sheffield, we have installed a solar panel system comprising over 1500 panels. This system is generating over 630 kWh of power at its peak, which will meet our electricity energy usage requirements when the weather supports it. Similarly, we plan to install solar panel systems at our other sites very soon. These facilities include a fully owned property in Aberdeen and leased properties in Lisburn, Northern Ireland. EV chargers We installed four 7.4 kW EV chargers at our Sheffield HQ a year or so ago and have just installed a further ten 22 kW charges on the site. Furthermore, we plan to roll out similar chargers at our other facilities. Stauff UK is moving to EV cars for its company cars and logistics fleet. Of these vehicles, six are all electric, while another six are hybrid. However, the company’s goal is to move to fully electric vehicles. Recently, we also invested in a Volkswagen ID. Buzz fully electric van. This will be used for our local Sheffield transportation to and from suppliers and customers. These investments are all part and parcel as to why we've installed the new EV chargers. Increasingly, we are seeing more of our large OEM customers pushing for greater sustainability both within their own companies as well as by their suppliers. This greater commitment to ethical procurement is great to see and can certainly help our industry to reduce its carbon footprint quite considerably. CBAM Also, companies need to be mindful of the upcoming CBAM (carbon border adjustment mechanism) regulations, which aim to ensure equal treatment of domestic and imported goods. It aims to achieve this by applying a charge to carbon emitted during the production of An ethical approach to the environment is the key to business growth and profitability 68 www.bfpa.co.uk By Ken Cleal, Operations Director, Global Product Manager – Tube & Tube Manipulation, Stauff UK
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