As a global leader in the manufacture of tyres, Michelin has three UK production sites. At its site in Stoke, the company employs about 500 staff and the manufacturing facility retreads more than 250,000 tyres annually.
Michelin has made a firm commitment to improving its environmental performance, and its policies apply from the choice of raw materials used, extending throughout the manufacturing processes and the working life of tyres, through to their end-of-life disposal. Its technologies increase tyre life, reduce fuel consumption and continue to consider the environmental impact at the end of a tyre’s life.
As a result, the company has implemented the Michelin Environmental Footprint (MEF) programme, which integrates three areas including the consumption of resources (water and energy), air emissions (Volatile Organic Compounds – VOC – and CO²) and waste (quantity and recovery).
The Michelin Group’s objective is to reduce the MEF by 20 per cent, by 2011. The company has already made a number of environmental improvements at its Campbell Road facility, and was a founding member of Staffordshire Business & Environment Network (SBEN).
Several resource efficiency measures have been implemented, and subsequently both financial and environmental benefits for the company have been realised.
Following a Carbon Trust survey, Michelin has made significant savings within its tyre warehouse by replacing existing light fittings with energy efficient lighting. There has been a reduction in energy consumption of approximately 110,000kwh of electricity per month, a CO² reduction of 48.5 tonnes per month, and improved lighting and visibility within the warehouse. The project required an investment of £70,000, but payback has been achieved in under a year.
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