EnviroSmart® Testimonials
- Phonak New Zealand has reduced its petrol consumption by approximately 50% by changing its vehicle fleet. The company believes it now has one of the largest hybrid fleets in New Zealand.
- Soar Printing found that 11% of its solid waste is recyclable and has made 10–15% savings in electricity costs.
- ABE’S® Real Bagels has halved storage and transport costs on its fastest-growing product range and reduced by about a third the number of large trucks entering and leaving its premises. The amount of raw material manually handled has reduced by 10–12 tonnes per week. Changes in practice have saved the company about $100,000 in the first year of full implementation. Abe's says “Being part of the regional programme has been an enlightening and rewarding experience. We have recommended to all of our suppliers that they seriously look at engaging in the national EnviroSmart programme. This programme does work for those who are committed to it and we appreciate being involved in this council programme initiative.” For ABE’S® the rewards have far outweighed the effort put in to being a member of the programme.
- Flint Ink discovered that 44% of its solid waste is recyclable, and has made improvements to its chemical storage and protection of stormwater systems.
- Ambrosia Nurseries has made significant developments in its recycling practices. This has lead to a reduction in solid waste leaving the site from two large skips per week down to only one small skip every 3 weeks.
- Talbot Plastics has reduced their waste to landfill by close to 50%. All cardboard, shrink-wrap and other plastic packaging are now being recycled and all food scraps are composted. Purge, one of its biggest waste products to landfill, has now been taken out of the waste stream and is being trailed in the cement industry.
- Works Infrastructure’s Mt Wellington Site, which has achieved the top award, Enviro-Mark®NZ Diamond certification, believes the programme spurs the business to continual improvement. “This line of work uses a lot of gas, electricity and water. We will keep using Enviro-Mark®NZ as a tool to manage these resources more efficiently.” Works Infrastructure has said “This certification isn’t just something that goes on the wall and everyone forgets about it. It’s special because it is recognised by district and regional councils,–our clients – and other clients notice it.”
- de Bruin-Judge Furniture has achieved Enviro-Mark®NZ Gold level. One of the outcomes of this work is that its design team encourages clients to utilise timber and veneers from sustainable plantations and suggests alternatives to unsustainable options initially specified by the client or their architect. The company designs products to facilitate the sustainable behaviour of its client base. For example, they encourage clients to consider including a recycling centre within their kitchen or home office environments.
- Lowery Supa Cutters, a member of the first pilot programme, received the Environmental Management Award at the 2004 North Shore Business Excellence Awards. The company has saved an impressive 85–90% of wastewater by collecting water used in the concrete-cutting process and returning it to the site facility where the solids are separated out and high pH water treated and stored for reuse in the cutting sequence.
The company created a new business called Environmental Protection Services which offers a concrete-slurry collection service for other commercial concrete cutters. Since finishing the pilot programme, Lowery Supa Cutters has moved towards achievement of the Enviro-Mark®NZ Platinum level.
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Enviro-Mark®NZ is one of a number of environmental management solutions developed, marketed and supported throughout out New Zealand by Landcare Research. Other products include Sustainability Reporting, the Emissions/Biodiversity Exchange 21 project (EBEX 21®) which includes CarbonZero.
