Our Environmental Performace
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| Wood mulching |
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| Hon Marian Hobbs; Richard Gordon, Manaaki Whenua, and Dean Johnson, Molten Media Trust at the Resource Management Awards. |
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We strive to improve our environmental performance.
The most adverse aspects of our environmental performance are associated with energy use—fuel for our air and vehicle travel; electricity to run our laboratories, quarantine facilities and office equipment; and the electricity, gas and coal we use to heat our premises. Hence our primary focus is on reducing direct energy use, travel and, correspondingly, our greenhouse gas emissions. We ‘measure to manage’ the paper we used and recycled, and the solid wastes produced. Efforts to improve our environmental performance extend to our fieldwork, and at the end of research projects we endeavour to leave field sites as we found them.
We
have a comprehensive environmental management system (EMS) certified to
ISO 14001. In 2002/03, our sites at Hamilton, Lincoln and Dunedin were
externally audited by Telarc and our certification was reconfirmed.
Travel
Motor vehicles
Our vehicle travel decreased slightly in 2002/03 and fuel consumption decreased by 6%. Purchase of additional, cleaner burning LPG-fuelled vehicles doubled the amount of LPG used to about 11% of our total fuel use.
We test drove a hybrid vehicle running on both electricity and petrol. The vehicle uses half the amount of petrol compared with a conventional vehicle, with no apparent loss of performance. We will seriously consider using these vehicles in our fleet, providing they meet our practical requirements.
Air travel
In 2002/03 our total domestic air travel decreased by 6% compared with last year. Per person (FTE) travel decreased by 8%, and is now lower than 5 of the previous 7 years. During 2003/04, we will be upgrading our video-conference system, which should reduce the need to travel between Manaaki Whenua sites.
Our international travel decreased 5% compared with last year. International
travel is essential to our business. Our objective is not to reduce international
travel, but to ensure an appropriate distribution of travel among staff
and to maximise the benefits gained from each trip. Wherever possible,
staff are encouraged to visit several overseas colleagues during each
trip.
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Business travelTravel is essential to our business. Our offices are spread from
Auckland to Dunedin. Much of our research is located in the field,
often at remote sites. Regular contact with overseas colleagues
is vital to ensure our scientists remain at the leading edge of
research. |
Energy use In recent years Manaaki Whenua has put a great deal of effort
into reducing the amount of energy we use. Hence the Government’s
call to save another 10–15% during the energy crisis was a
major challenge for us. However, thanks to staff commitment and
ingenuity, we achieved the target. Our best effort was in May 2003
when we saved 15%. Work requiring large amounts of power was rescheduled,
and timers for heating were adjusted. In addition, our Massey site
made spectacular gas savings in February (89%) and March (95%) by
switching off the main boiler. |
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 Sustainability Action |
“Our voluntary Sustainability Groups |
| Annie Lloyd-Jones Manaaki Whenua |
Targetting zero waste
Paper
Paper forms a significant part of our waste stream—we use over 13 tonnes per year. Once again we managed to recycle more paper than we used, continuing a 6-year trend. Almost all (98%) of Manaaki Whenua’s printed stationery contained some recycled content. We trialled 100% recycled paper in copiers and printers, but experienced some incompatibility problems. We were also concerned about the amount of energy used in transporting it from Europe and this, coupled with a sharp price increase, led us to decide not to use it. However, we will continue to look for a suitable locally produced paper with substantial recycled content.
Paper used and recycled |
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Other solid wastes
An audit at our Palmerston North site revealed several opportunities for reducing waste, which will support the zero waste strategy developed by the site’s Sustainability Group.
We donated about 20 older PCs to various organisations, and sent 40 to Molten Media Trust for reuse or recycling. We recycled all the toner cartridges, from printers and copiers, that we used.
The Lincoln site purchased a mulcher capable of handling garden waste
up to 10 cm diameter. This means most prunings and weeds from Lincoln’s
extensive grounds (approximately five hectares) can now be turned into
mulch for our native tree plantings.
Waste audits 
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Performance Against Targets 2003 |  |
Additional Target 2004 | ||
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Complete quantification of chemical use & identify ‘worst’ chemicals—Partly achieved—we identified all chemicals purchased | Complete quantification of chemical use | |||
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Target 2005 | ||||
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Conduct travel-to-work survey at our Auckland site—Achieved | Reduce energy use by 15% (compared with 2000/01) | |||
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Reduce domestic air travel (km) by 5%—Achieved—we achieved a 6% reduction | ||||
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Dialogue |  |
On our web site | ||
| Annie Lloyd-Jones |
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Environmental management system | |||
| (Environmental Co-ordinator&Auditor) | Environmental policy | ||||
| Phone: | (03) 325 6700 | End of Year Sustainability Results | |||
Email 
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