Environmental Policy

Mission statement

Responsibility

The quality department is responsible for ensuring that the environmental policy is implemented. However, all employees have a responsibility in their area to ensure that the aims and objectives of the policy are met.

Policy aims

We endeavour to:

• Comply with and exceed all relevant regulatory requirements.
• Continually improve and monitor environmental performance.
• Continually improve and reduce environmental impacts.
• Incorporate environmental factors into business decisions.
• Increase employee awareness and training.
• Reduce, reuse and recycle waste produced across the organisation
• Use water efficiently within the organisation
• Comply with the WASH pledge that we have signed
• Strive to procure sustainable products, materials, and contractor services
• Remain committed to the prevention of pollution and promotion of biodiversity
• Ensure compliance with legal and other requirements and comply with the CDP Carbon Disclosure Policy & Ecovadis.
• Engage our stakeholders and form partnerships to promote positive environmental practice
• Continue to reflect on what we, as a progressive organisation, can contribute to the sustainability challenge

Paper

• We will minimise the use of paper in the office.
• We will reduce packaging as much as possible.
• We will seek to buy recycled and recyclable paper products.
• We will reuse and recycle all paper where possible.

Energy and water

• We will seek to reduce the amount of energy used as much as possible.
• Lights and electrical equipment will be switched off when not in use.
• Heating will be adjusted with energy consumption in mind.
• The energy consumption and efficiency of new products will be taken into account when purchasing.

Office supplies

• We will evaluate if the need can be met in another way.
• We will evaluate if renting/sharing is an option before purchasing equipment.
• We will evaluate the environmental impact of any new products we intend to purchase.
• We will favour more environmentally friendly and efficient products wherever possible.
• We will reuse and recycle everything we are able to.

Transportation

• We will reduce the need to travel, restricting to necessity trips only.
• We will promote the use of travel alternatives such as e-mail or video/phone conferencing.
• We will make additional efforts to accommodate the needs of those using public transport or bicycles.
• We will favour ‘green’ vehicles and maintain them rigorously to ensure ongoing efficiency.
• We will not return rejected goods to China in the aim to reduce carbon footprint. Instead, rejected goods will be scrapped and recycled in the UK.

Maintenance and cleaning

• Cleaning materials used will be as environmentally friendly as possible.
• Materials used in office refurbishment will be as environmentally friendly as possible.
• We will only use licensed and appropriate organisations to dispose of waste.
• 100% of our waste will be recycled, we will not send any waste to Landfill.

Monitoring and improvement

• We will comply with and exceed all relevant regulatory requirements.
• We will continually improve and monitor environmental performance, whilst comply with the Ecovadis platform.
• We will continually improve and reduce environmental impacts.
• We will incorporate environmental factors into business decisions.
• We will increase employee awareness through training.
• We will review this policy and any related business issues at our monthly management meetings.

Culture

• We will involve staff in the implementation of this policy, for greater commitment and improved performance.
• We will update this policy at least once annually in consultation with staff and other stakeholders where necessary.
• We will provide staff with relevant environmental training.
• We will work with suppliers, contractors, and sub-contractors to improve their environmental performance.
• We will use local labour and materials where available to reduce CO2 and help the community.

Recycling Metal

Foundries are one of the best examples of resource efficiency and sustainability.

Castings implement the recycling concept almost completely.  Once their lifecycle is over castings are recycled; they are melted down to manufacture a new casting.  Old and new scrap metal is used to produce castings too. 

About 95% of the sand required to make moulds is recycled as well.  Modern processing systems make this possible.

Commitments

We are fully committed to our WASH pledge and Ecovadis.

We will seek to make improvements as recommended by the Ecovadis platform.  This is the responsibility of Kim Little & Richard Phillips.

We will seek to make improvements to our WASH assessment and review this assessment quarterly.  Our aim is to score 2 for all categories of the WASH self-assessment tool. This is the responsibility of Kim Little & Richard Phillips.

Our target for Co2 emissions is to engage with suppliers so we can have a full calculation for our scope 3 emissions.  Once we have full transparency of our scope 3 emissions, we can then set a target for carbon reduction.

In March 2024 we invested in Solar panels for Unit 8 in a bid to cut our energy consumption.  By investing in Solar panels we should avoid 11,454 kg/year Co2 emissions.

In Feb 2025 we invested further in Solar panels for Unit 5 in a bid to cut our energy consumption by investing in Solar panels we should avoid 3,000 kg/year Co2 emissions.

We currently calculate our scope 1, 2 & partially scope 3 Co2 emissions and it is the responsibility of Kim Little to update this information monthly.  We are working with SWMAS who have benchmarked our carbon footprint and are helping us provide a roadmap to Carbon neutrality.

We are fully engaged with the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), and it is the responsibility of Kim Little to answer the questionnaire annually.  Due to the size of our company, we answer the minimum version of the questionnaire which means we do not get a score.

From 1^st Oct 2023 we have switched Electricity suppliers to 100% renewable energy.

The Path To A More Sustainable Business

For NovaCast, the starting point was to invest in technology that would deliver castings using less raw materials and energy, taking less time to produce, while delivering better component performance and lower costs for customers.

Design Technology: 3D modelling and casting simulation software enables the foundry design engineering team to influence the design process at a much earlier stage – suggesting design modifications or combining multiple assemblies into a single, more efficient casting that can take weight, materials, and cost out of components while improving performance.

Running digital casting simulations make it possible to identify casting issues or potential defects before a pattern had been made. This cuts down the number of pattern modifications needed and reduces time and resources in producing cast prototypes.

Rapid Prototyping: NovaCast produces rapid prototypes using additive technology (3D Printing) that reduces the need for patterns to be made in the traditional way, and uses 3D scanning of existing components to enable reverse engineering. Both lead to greater production efficiencies, design improvements and lower use of resources.

Process Improvements: Adapting or changing other aspects of the production process has delivered environmental impact improvements or reduced the resources used:

• Recycling of sand used in the sand-casting process means that the majority of the sand used is now recycled.
• A greater proportion of the metal used in the castings is re-cycled rather than from virgin raw materials resulting in less upstream energy usage and environmental damage, and less landfill on the downstream side.
• Modern fluxes are now manufactured to reduce toxic sulphur dioxide and fluoride emissions by up to 85% without a significant loss in performance.

Management Systems: Recent investment in the Synchro ERP system has allowed the business to have far greater control, understanding and clarity, while investment in UKAS ISO9001 accreditation has imposed quality disciplines and monitoring throughout the company.

Sustainability in action: From a practical point of view, NovaCast has moved to a position where nothing from the business is now sent to landfill – everything is either recycled or sent to a biofuel centre with full traceability. Improvements in monitoring and the company’s energy policy will see further improvements in NovaCast’s sustainability rating over the coming months.

EcoVadis

From a sustainability perspective, it is important to be able to monitor, measure and benchmark where the business is in relation to the industry as a whole and to put in place a plan that will deliver real progress. To this end, NovaCast has engaged with EcoVadis, the world’s largest and most trusted provider of sustainability ratings. Engaging with an organisation of this kind allows NovaCast to demonstrate its commitment to a sustainable future, to benchmark itself against the industry as a whole, and to monitor its own progress against targets. And by sharing this data throughout its network, NovaCast can use its influence to drive positive change in other companies, just as its own customers are increasingly doing. After its first full year NovaCast has improved its sustainability rating by 61% and now sits just outside the to 5% of companies reporting on the EcoVadis platform.

Environmental Reporting

NovaCast further demonstrates its commitment to engaging with organisations focussed on improving our environment by reporting its scope 1, 2 & 3 Greenhouse Gas Emissions under the GHG Protocol and reports to the Carbon Disclosure Project.

WASH Campaign

NovaCast has engaged in the WASH campaign that promotes Global Water, Sanitation and Hygiene standards through www.wash4work.org. The focus of the organisation is global access to safe water, adequate sanitation, and proper hygiene education which can reduce illness and death from disease, leading to improved health, poverty reduction, and socio-economic development. It is also a standard that companies need to implement in their own workplaces and, through testing of its workforce, NovaCast has already identified and addressed water quality issues it its own foundry that would not have been identified had it not been for its engagement in the WASH pledge.