Leading the way in SUSTAINABILITY
The largest wholesaler of fasteners and fixings in the UK, Owlett-Jaton, is leading by example by pushing to become ever more sustainable, with ISO 14001: 2015 accreditation and cutting its carbon tonnage by a whopping 17%...
Leading the way in SUSTAINABILITY
The largest wholesaler of fasteners and fixings in the UK, Owlett-Jaton, is leading by example by pushing to become ever more sustainable, with ISO 14001: 2015 accreditation and cutting its carbon tonnage by a whopping 17%...
Owlett-Jaton is the first and only fasteners and fixings wholesaler in the UK to be awarded Environmental Accreditation ISO 14001:2015.
Committed to minimising the impact its activities have on the environment, Owlett-Jaton achieved accreditation in September 2019, following 18 months of focused improvement on its environmental management system and a two-stage audit process.
Since becoming ISO 14001:2015 accredited, the leading supplier has reduced its carbon tonnage by a staggering 17% whilst growing the business. KPIs, including measurement of Scope 1 and 2 emissions, have been put in place by the business. These are regularly reviewed to ensure continuous improvement.
"Working towards ISO 14001 was a natural progression following the introduction of several environmentally-focused investments."
As the first and only wholesaler in their industry in the UK to achieve this status, they are, understandably, very proud to have accomplished this. Chief Executive Ian Doherty comments: “Becoming more sustainable is this the right thing to do for the planet, but I firmly believe it is the right thing for the business, our staff and customers. ISO 14001 helps us on that journey, and it is a journey, we are constantly seeking ways to further reduce carbon and become more sustainable in all aspects of our operations. We were thrilled to be recognised for our efforts by Torque-Expo when we won the Sustainability Award at the Torque-Expo show in May.”
Ken Phillips, Owlett-Jaton’s Facilities and Accreditation Manager adds: “Working towards ISO 14001 was a natural progression following the introduction of several environmentally-focused investments. Whilst the process took 18 months to complete, it was a huge achievement for us and one that we are extremely proud of.”
There had been a noticeable increase in customer requests for information surrounding their sustainability efforts as a supplier, and achieving the accreditation firmly cemented their position with regard to improvement. Sustainable practices are increasingly becoming more of a requirement for larger clients, and customers must be supported when dealing with such organisations.
"We’ve invested in lithium-ion battery-powered mechanical handling equipment. This equipment not only uses less electricity but eliminates the use of lead-acid batteries and the potential for hazardous chemical spills associated with their maintenance."
Some of the initiatives the business has undertaken to improve its environmental performance include:
- All electricity used by the company is sourced from renewable sources.
- The installation of LED lighting across the offices and warehouse at the Stone site reduced electricity consumption by 30%.
- Investment in lithium-ion battery-powered mechanical handling equipment. This equipment not only uses less electricity but eliminates the use of lead-acid batteries and the potential for hazardous chemical spills associated with their maintenance.
- Introduced plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and battery electric vehicles to the company car fleet, together with the installation of on-site charging for those vehicles.
- The consolidation of operation onto a single site has allowed the business to increase sales whilst reducing its overall energy consumption by over 30%.
- All waste is segregated and recycled or reused whenever possible.
- A continuous approach to reducing waste sent to landfill. In 2021 less than 0.5% of waste went to landfill, with the remainder recycled.
- Containers are moved from ports by rail, reducing environmental impact and road congestion.
- Moving to electronic invoicing has saved over 500,000 envelopes each year.
- Video conferencing software has been used to increase the number of virtual meetings and reduce road travel.
There have been several packaging changes made to improve the environmental performance of products including:
- All purchased cardboard packaging is fully recyclable and FSC-sourced with high recycled content.
- Introduced paper gummed tape in place of polypropylene, saving over 600km of single-use plastic tape each year.
- Reduced the use of plastic packaging formats and switched to recycled materials.
