Midlands based leading manufacturer Malthouse Engineering is taking climate change talk seriously by implementing an array of greener initiatives across the business. As the pressure is turned up for businesses to go net-zero by 2050, the green thinking firm can ensure their impact on the environment is greener than ever before.
Established in 1947, Malthouse Engineering is renowned for providing the best possible steel profiling, otherwise known as flame cutting, service in the UK. Over the years the company has become increasingly conscious of the carbon footprint they have been leaving on the planet, and therefore have been working towards a more sustainable way of working.
Taking their first steps towards a greener future, “encouraged by Rover”, the company was accredited with BS EN ISO 14001 - a environmental management certification. This allows businesses to reduce waste management costs and demonstrates commitment to protecting the environment.
At the time when Malthouse received this accreditation, businesses were more inclined to work with companies who had achieved this standard. However as years went by, businesses focused on working with others who were working towards net-zero.
This gave Managing Director Roy Taylor the idea of harvesting rainwater for use in their facility, mainly used in the grinding department of their plant to service steel. This was achieved by the company investing in large containers to collect the rainwater. To ensure the water was safe for employees, they also invested in ultraviolet light to help kill bacteria in the water.
Having Proven the concept, Malthouse increased the capacity to 32 containers (32,000 litres). Roy said:
“This has seen massive savings for the company as we do not use any water from the mains. The rainwater harvesting has served us very well over the last 5-8 years with having 14 grinding machines that need to be cooled everytime to service ground steel. Going Green is about trying everything out and seeing what works for you. We learnt over time that algae was forming so the “free” IBC”s are being replaced by 2 black plastic containers with 20,000 litres capacity”
Another initiative the company has taken on recently is the recycling of their scrap steel which is sent back to steel mills to be remelted and used again. The company uses an oxygen fuel gas method to cut steel using iron oxide. However unlike competitors, Malthouse uses a system where iron oxide sparks and steel are separated by dropping through the middle of the machines separately. With 10 flame cutting machines running 20 hours a day, 5,000 tonnes of scrap are continuously used again and again. Roy concluded:
“We are constantly working on being greener. Our next project is looking at the aluminium stones inside our machines that are used to grind surfaces. As they wear over time we want to be able to recycle these small pieces of metal rather than throwing them away. As well as looking at getting solar panels, we have also recently planted 50 trees on an embankment at the side of our facility. As a result we have been rewarded by a variety of birds in the Black Country”