Hull manufacturing giant Ideal heating has used Humber Business Week to outline how it is helping supply chain companies reduce their carbon footprint.
Engineering director Helen Villamuera played a key role in the Collaborating Towards a Net Zero Future event at Aura Innovation Centre, Hessle, a session run by the Oh Yes! Net Zero initiative, of which it is part. The campaign has so far been backed by more than 150 organisations from across the region, which are all committed to reducing their carbon footprint and supporting the transition to net zero.
Helen discussed the steps Ideal Heating is taking to decarbonise its headquarters in National Avenue, as the company looks ahead to achieving net zero status by 2035. And joining her on the panel of experts pulled together was Craig Neill, quality, health, safety and environment manager at Advanced Plastics - a city business that has sold into the company for more than a decade.
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Ideal Heating is currently investing £60 million across the site, including new manufacturing, distribution and research and development facilities. A key element of the investment is focused on the energy efficiency of new buildings and the installation of solar panels on the site to provide a source of renewable energy.
But there is a key second element, as she highlighted. Helen said: “Part of the challenge is understanding what we can do ourselves and another part is what we refer to as scope three emissions – that’s emissions in our supply chain and downstream.
“We’ll soon be launching a carbon calculator on our website, to input data and understand emissions and the key things they can do to reduce them.
“Our chief operations officer, Jason Speedy, has also been a driving force behind the new Carbon Clinics which are running in the region, giving SMEs a chance to sit down with experts and start that journey to net zero.”
Advanced Plastics has supplied Ideal Heating with materials since the launch of the company’s Logic range of boilers, around 12 years ago.
Craig said: “We started on the net zero journey about a year ago. As a business, we’re starting to see more of our customers challenging us on our carbon footprint.
“We’ve done some work on looking at where our materials come from and where we can use more recycled products in our operations.
“There’s still a long way to go and we’re grateful to have Ideal Heating’s expertise and knowledge to help us along the way.
“The Carbon Clinics which have been launched are a great way to sit down with experts and go through your business and carbon footprint. This is something every business will need to do and it’s OK to admit that you need a bit of help on the journey.”
Also on the panel were Louise Smith, director at Aura; Paul Andrews, director of Global Energy at Smith & Nephew; Matthew Dodson, director at Vic Coupland; Sally Wray, managing director at GoHire and Susana Medina, partner at Partners in Performance and Helen said businesses across the Humber region – one of the biggest pollutants in Europe – had a shared responsibility to decarbonise operations.
She emphasised the importance of collaboration and knowledge exchange and that businesses must share their experiences and expertise to help others on their journey.
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