Reducing emissions from manufacturing
In Great Britain, all of our manufacturing distribution sites and CCGB's Hammersmith office in London are accredited with the ISO 14001 environmental management system.
- ISO14001 accreditation is considered a pre-requisite for any company committed to doing business in ways that help protect, preserve and enhance the environment.
- It commits us to making continual improvements in our environmental performance
Towards the end of 2008, we adopted a pre-existing manufacturing site with the acquisition of Abbey Well. We will be working closely with the site to align operations there with our environmental management and performance standards.
Our existing sites also have sub-metering so we can monitor how different parts of our factories use energy. This helps us focus our efforts on the areas where we're consuming most energy.
When we invest in new equipment at our manufacturing sites, we make sure that the new technology is more energy efficient than its predecessor. In some cases we have to balance the environmental impacts of new technology against its environmental benefits. For example, air rinsers on our production lines reduce water use, but often lead to increased energy use.
Reporting energy use
During 2008, our manufacturing operations in Great Britain used an average of 90.22 kWh of energy per thousand litres of drinks produced - 5% less than in 2007.
This is the first year we have reported energy use against litres of product. In the past, we reported per tonne of product, but we've started to report on a per thousand litres basis in order to align our reporting metrics across Europe.
We've also included Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) use at our sites in our reporting for the first time. LPG is used to power our forklift trucks.
Climate Change Agreement Scheme
Under the Government's Climate Change Agreement Scheme, we've voluntarily agreed to meet energy reduction targets by 2010 in return for an 80% discount on the Climate Change Levy - an energy tax that would typically add about 15% to the energy bills of UK businesses. CCE has already consistently beaten the targets set under this scheme.
Case studies
Sub-metering for energy efficiency
Over the past few years we’ve installed 150 energy meters at our Sidcup manufacturing site. This has led to a 10% reduction in energy use.
Sub-metering helps single out areas of inefficiency within our complex manufacturing process. For example, we found that a new type of bottle labeller was using a disproportionate amount of the energy on the production line.
We worked with the supplier to make an energy-saving modification to one of our specialist bottle labelling machines, which reduced its use of energy by 25%. We hope to have this modification installed at all our sites by the end of 2010.
Our manufacturing site in Wakefield is our biggest in the UK and the biggest soft drinks factory in the world. Not surprisingly, it also consumes the most energy. In early 2008, we invested in a sophisticated energy monitoring and targeting system that includes around 80 separate sub-meters. This enables us to pinpoint where energy is being consumed and focus our energy reduction programmes in the right areas.
- Energy use at our Wakefield site in 2008 was 76.49 kWh of energy per thousand litres of drinks produced - down from 88.99 in 2007
- This represents a 14% reduction in energy use
As well as focussing on engineering solutions, the team at Wakefield have been running programmes to raise awareness on using equipment efficiently and reducing energy wastage. Sub-metering helps single out areas of inefficiency within our complex manufacturing process. For example, we found that a new type of bottle labeller was using a disproportionate amount of the energy on the production line.
We worked with the supplier to make an energy-saving modification to one of our specialist bottle labelling machines, which reduced its use of energy by 25%. We hope to have this modification installed at all our sites by the end of 2010.
Our manufacturing site in Wakefield is our biggest in the UK and the biggest soft drinks factory in the world. Not surprisingly, it also consumes the most energy. In early 2008, we invested in a sophisticated energy monitoring and targeting system that includes around 80 separate sub-meters. This enables us to pinpoint where energy is being consumed and focus our energy reduction programmes in the right areas.
- Energy use at our Wakefield site in 2008 was 76.49 kWh of energy per thousand litres of drinks produced - down from 88.99 in 2007
- This represents a 14% reduction in energy use
As well as focussing on engineering solutions, the team at Wakefield have been running programmes to raise awareness on using equipment efficiently and reducing energy wastage.
Efficient bottle production
At our Wakefield site, we mould our own plastic bottles from small injection-moulded components called ‘pre-forms’. This is much more efficient and environmentally friendly than transporting fully formed, empty bottles to the site to be filled.
Lots of energy is used in the bottle ‘blowing’ stage of this process. This involves heating the pre-form before blowing high-pressure air to create the bottle’s final shape. To minimise energy use, we’ve installed a special system that automatically balances the supply of high-pressure air against the demand for blowing. This has helped to reduce energy use significantly at the site.
Efficient lighting
Across Europe, we’re installing a new lighting system that automatically turns lights off or dims them when they’re not needed – promoting energy efficiency.
One site that uses the new system is our Northampton distribution facility, occupies a warehouse measuring 250,000 sq ft and operates around the clock. This meant that the facility’s 350 metal halide lights were never turned off. So in 2008, we installed an intelligent lighting system at the site. The system dims the lights to 25% of their output in low-traffic areas.
- The new system has saved 50% of the lights’ energy consumption
- It has reduced the site’s overall electricity use by 15%, while also increasing the lifespan of the lights and fittings
