Sustainability

Reducing Construction Costs - Our contribution to reducing Global Warming

The strength and light weight of our GRP panels produces significant advantages.  When using our product the primary support structures normally required for other traditional heavy building materials can be engineered to considerably reduced weight and complexity.  In some cases, for instance refurbishment of existing buildings, GRP may be the only possible material that can be used without rebuilding or strengthening the whole primary structure.

Demolition, Removal and Recycling

The dismantling of a GRP structure is as straightforward as the installation, with the light weight modular panels again being a significant factor.  Once dismantled and on the ground the product may be cut up and sent for recycling e.g. shredding for use in road metaling.

Polyester Resin

This material is a product of the petrochemical industry and has vitally important uses in the aircraft, transport, shipping and construction industries where, in combination with glass and carbon fibres, it is used to provide strong light weight materials which replace heavier, more energy consuming materials such as aluminium, steel and concrete.

Raw materials are very basic and abundantly available

Glass and carbon fibres are used as a matrix in combination with polyester and other resins to form a strong, light weight plastic material with a very impressive strength to weight ratios.  This means smaller amounts of raw materials are used to obtain the structural results of more traditional materials.

Production Methods - Tooling uses Sustainable Timber

GRP is invariably formed in a mould, producing anything from a flat sheet to the most complex of shapes; in size from an item you can hold in your hand to tall tower features and at the other extreme, a Royal Navy mine sweeper.  The tooling process usually requires the production of a timber pattern which in form is a replica of the finished item segments.  Using the pattern, a GRP mould (or tool) is produced from which a large number of identical items can be efficiently produced.  The materials used for the pattern work are sustainable timber and sheet materials.

Handling Finished Products

The finished products are often large in size, but as a result of being light weight, they are easily handled and the necessity for mechanically driven lifting equipment is minimal.  Delivery payloads are likewise reduced and only a fraction of the vehicle weight capacity, thus reducing the carbon costs of delivery to the customer.

Similar savings accrue on site where both manpower and mechanical handling are significantly reduced when compared with the usual heavy building material handling.  There are further savings from reduced personnel travelling costs and delivery of plant.

Policy for the purchase of timber products

We are committed to purchasing certified/accredited timber products where ever possible and where the chain of custody can be independently verified. For this reason we purchase our timber products through approved suppliers.
The Sustainable Purchasing Mission Statement of our main supplier of timber products is as follows:
a. Our supplier recognises that it has a duty to base its operations upon well-managed forests and to reduce wherever possible the impact of its operations upon the local environment of which they are a apart.
b. Our supplier makes strenuous efforts to meet and where possible exceed HM Government procurement guidelines.
c. Our supplier accepts that verification by one of the accredited, independent, certification schemes is the preferred means of proving that wood goods actually possess the legal and sustainable attributes claimed for them.
d. The supplier submits itself to independent scrutiny through its efforts to maintain FSC and PEFC Chain of Custody Certification, through the TRADA-Trak scheme to ensure that an increasing proportion of its timber products can be independently verified as coming from well-managed forests.

Glossary of Terms:

PEFC - Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification

FSC - Forest Stewardship Council - Certified forests are managed to ensure long term timber supplies while protecting the environment and the lives of forest-dependent peoples. A system of Chain of Custody certification traces forest products through the supply chain to the end-consumer. The FSC enables you to buy forest products of all kinds with confidence that you are not contributing to global forest destruction

Legal and Sustainable - As rated by The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), timber from these schemes is eligible for all contracts under the UK Public Timber Procurement Policy)