£3.5m Savings
Identified at
Plastics Sector Event
Companies working in the Plastics industry in Ireland look set to save millions of pounds following a unique new workshop co-hosted by All Island Polymer and Plastics Network (AIPPN) and the National Industrial Symbiosis Programme (NISP).
Fifty-two delegates from thirty-eight companies in the Plastic sector across Ireland attended the event in Magheralin (Co Armagh) on the 28th May 2008. Significantly the workshop identified over £3.5million in potential cost savings. The cross-border event, the first of its kind in Northern Ireland, saw NISP and the AIPPN identifying profitable links between companies which would optimise the use of previously unused or discarded resources such as materials, energy, water, office space and expertise.
Paul Kinkead, Environmental Manager at Michelin Tyre Plc, gave an excellent presentation of the journey that the Michelin had completed to reduce, reuse and recycle waste.
Ian Garner, WRAP Northern Ireland Manager, gave a presentation on Valuing Recovered Plastics.
Feedback from those who attended was very positive and all seemed to both enjoy and benefit from the experience.
Imelda Owens from Boomer Industries said it was an “Extremely useful event” whilst Eamon O’Reilly of CWS Recycling said it was a “wonderful opportunity to meet new businesses”. Diane Carlise of the Environment Heritage Service (EHS) “will promote NISP to businesses”.
Olive Hill, Invest NI’s Director of Technology and Process Development, said: “Invest NI assists local businesses to become more competitive and one way to do this is to reduce the overheads generated by waste and inefficient use of resources. Working in partnership with NISP, Invest NI can help companies to achieve this and the polymer and plastics sector is no exception.
“This workshop represents an excellent opportunity for local companies in that sector to discuss and identify practical ways in which they can become more resource efficient. Indeed, waste can not only be reduced, it can sometimes be turned into a useful income generator, rather than purely an operating cost.”
Trevor Knipe, Director for NISP Northern Ireland, said” “I am always amazed by the openness of the delegates attending our synergy workshops. They freely share information and genuinely want to save money and contribute to environmental improvement. It all bodes well for the future of the Plastics sector and I hope will be equally effective for the Engineering and Automotive sectors which will be the beneficiaries of our next workshops.”
The next phase will involve NISP’s team of specially trained industrial symbiosis practitioners meeting each of the companies involved to further investigate and assist them in realising and implementing steps to achieve those savings.
To find out more and to benefit from this experience contact:
Adrian Marks, Network Manager for the All-Island Polymer and Plastics Network
and
www.nisp.org.uk or contact NISP Northern Ireland on 0845 0949511 or northernireland@nisp.org.uk.
