Nicklin Transit Packaging has invested more than GBP 1 million ($1.25 million) in a new biomass heating system at its main manufacturing site on the Woods Bank Estate in Wednesbury, the UK.
The new plant will be fuelled using the waste generated by the company’s manufacturing processes and the energy generated will help heat the buildings across the site as well as its kilns, which is a key component in the manufacture of timber products.
Managing director David Nicklin said the move towards renewable energy was an essential part of Nicklin’s commitment to becoming a more sustainable business.
“In recent years we have taken a range of steps to reduce our carbon footprint, from investing in a fleet of electric forklift trucks to introducing LED lighting across our Wednesbury plant, but the biomass investment will be a real game changer in terms of our aspirations to achieve the lowest net carbon position possible for our business.”
As well as eradicating the need for natural gas for heating, which has an increasing financial and environmental cost, the biomass plant will burn the 1,000 tonnes of timber waste created by the plant annually, reducing the need for skips as well as the thousands of haulage miles necessary to remove the waste to landfill or repurposing plants where it is turned into animal bedding, garden mulch or wood fuel.
The new plant will also enable Nicklin to enhance its customer offer by collecting their waste timber, in turn helping customers to reduce their own carbon footprint.
Nicklin Transit Packaging is the UK’s largest independent pallet and packaging firm.
