Environmental Annual Report
2014
______________________________________________
Contents
Page
Foreword
3
About UDG
4
Our Environmental Management System
• ISO 14001
5
6
Our Environmental Performance
• Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme
• What are we doing to reduce our emissions
• Electricity and Gas use
• Water Use
• Air Pollution
• Business Mileage
6
6
7
7
9
10
11
Waste
• Recycling Performance
• Client Waste
• Next stages
12
12
13
13
Environmental Risk Management
14
Our Sustainability
• Environmental Procurement
14
Targets and Objectives
15
Biodiversity around our sites
15
Staff Engagement
16
2
Environmental Management System
Foreword This is the fourth Annual Environmental Report of Unidrug Distribution Group
Limited (UDG) and fulfils our obligations as set out by the UDG Environmental
Management System.
2014 saw business pressures around operational space which affected
employee productivity including waste management with increased headcount
impacting energy and water usage.
Our aim for 2014 was to maintain positive levels of compliance while installing
the Environmental Management Systems (EMS) into the newly built 224,000 sq ft
UDG warehouse known as AP5.
Having achieved ISO 14001:2004 certification in April 12, the environment and
sustainability are now firmly on the UDG operational and strategic agenda.
Mike Foulds – Health, Safety & Environment Manager
3
Environmental Management System
About UDG UDG Sites
Unidrug Distribution Group Ltd (UDG) has increased its staff level to just under
850 during 2014 and now occupies 4 warehouses in South Normanton,
Derbyshire, between 160,000 and 224,000 sq ft and a 5th site, Amber Park 4
(80,000 sq ft) located 1.5 miles away in Huthwaite.
A new large purpose build warehouse opened early summer 2014 on the nearby
Castlewood Business Park with the Huthwaite site due to close but this has
remained open as space requirements dictated.
The main activity carried out is the storage and distribution of healthcare and
pharmaceutical products for both human and animal health use; these products
are delivered throughout the UK and Ireland.
UDG offer ambient, chilled, frozen and cryogenic storage with pick and pack
operations for the products held. This can be from a whole pallet to an individual
item. Products are stored in high bay racking to approx 12 metres in the ambient
storage, lower level storage in the chilled drive in chill stores.
The New AP5 site
Campus
AP4
AP5
4
Environmental Management System
Transport
The current UDG fleet of road delivery vehicles comprises 45x LGV tractor units,
7x draw bar vehicles, 5x 18 ton rigid vehicles, 1x 7.5 ton unit and 49x vans.
The UDG fleet undergoes continuous upgrade with a scheme to replace to new
vehicles to reduce emissions and increase fuel efficiency. All new vehicles are
Euro 6 engines.
Our Environmental Management System The UDG Environmental Policy is displayed internally in the staff reception of all
sites on the Energy and Environment notice boards and externally on the UDG
website. This Policy is the back bone of our management system, setting out our
vision and commitment to environmental sustainability through 10 key principles.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Reduce the use of fossil fuels – reducing CO2
Minimise waste through prevention, reuse and recycling
Monitor measure and continually improve our environmental performance.
Ensure legal compliance and operational excellence - through the use of
environmental management systems and the provision of training for all
employees.
5. Prevent ground and water pollution and minimise emissions of air borne
pollutants.
6. Minimise our consumption of environmentally sensitive and nonrenewable resources.
7. Include environmental consideration in all relevant business decisions
8. Communicate our environmental performance to our staff, customers and
key stakeholders.
9. Use working parties to drive continuous change and improvement in line
with new developments.
10. Work to maintain ISO 14001 accreditation.
Our Environmental management is now based on the guidelines as set out by
the management standard.
The last Management review involving the Managing Director, Director of
Operations and the key operational management team took place in July 2014
and this documented report was made available to all employees.
The objectives will be reviewed and new objectives set to move UDG forward on
a journey of continual improvement.
5
Environmental Management System
ISO 14001
UDG has established an Environmental Management System that provides a
framework for managing and reducing UDG’s environmental impacts, and
establishes programmes to help achieve our environmental objectives and tracks
the reporting of environmental incidents as part of our continual improvement
process. UDG are proud to have achieved ISO 14001:2004 certification.
Since certification there have been 5 external audits conducted by BSI to
establish if the management system is operating satisfactorily, there is a
recertification audit due early 2015. During this time 14 minor nonconformities
have been raised and all resolved swiftly.
UDG have a program of internal audits in line with the requirements of the
standard.
There were no environmental incidents or occurrences at UDG during 2014.
Our Environmental Performance The European Union has set targets to reduce carbon emissions to 20% of 1990
levels by 2020. The UK government has set a target to reduce carbon emissions
to 34% of 1990 levels by 2020 and to 80% by 2050.
The UK government passed legislation (The Climate Change Act 2008) that
means that the UK is the first government in the world to have set legally binding
carbon reduction targets.
The legislation requires UDG, to participate in the Carbon Reduction
Commitment (Energy Efficiency Scheme). This places an obligation on UDG to
purchase carbon allowances annually, currently as UDG fall within the energy
contracts of Alliance Boots these are purchased as part of the group.
Energy Savings Opportunities Scheme (ESOS)
ESOS is a mandatory energy assessment scheme for organisations in the UK
that meet the qualification criteria. The Environment Agency is the UK scheme
administrator.
Organisations that qualify for ESOS must carry out ESOS assessments every 4
years. These assessments are audits of the energy used by their buildings,
industrial processes and transport to identify cost-effective energy saving
measures.
Organisations must notify the Environment Agency by a set deadline that they
have complied with their ESOS obligations.
•
•
New scheme administered by the EA
Business over 250 employees required to have Energy Assessment audit
including use of Gas, Electricity and Fuel
6
Environmental Management System
•
Report will include energy saving opportunities and must be signed off by
company directors
EA to be informed of compliance by 5th Dec 2015
Audit to be repeated within a 4 year period
•
•
UDG has requirements under ESOS and is working with Boots to identify group
reporting options.
What are we doing to reduce our carbon emissions?
emissions
Building on the starting points from previous years,
years our carbon saving
opportunities has mainly focused on reduced energy usage and more efficient
vehicles.
It’ss not all about the big wins
wins, we are also targeting small but positive energy
reduction initiatives including the lighting replacement, use of LED light
bulbs/panels and monitored vehicle fuel efficient driving methods.
methods
Electricity and Gas Use
The charts below shows the energy use in kWh
Electricity kWh
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
AP1
2355151
2172514
1610098
1639057
1633321
1760852
AP2
3875199
3995175
3824748
3882876
3693409
3647848
AP3
1233888
1712269
1777793
1061887
AP4
N/A
576439
666162
AP5
450390
Excluding the AP5 site so a like for like comparison can be made, the
th overall
electricity usage 2014 was 7136749 kWh vs 7104523 kWh for 2013 a 0.45%
0.45
reduction.
Site Electricity tCO2e
AP1
AP2
AP3
AP4
9%
15%
25%
51%
7
Environmental Management System
An easy way to compare usage site by site is to look at the Carbon Dioxide
Equivalent in tonnes, as you can see over half of the CO2e is generated from
power usage in the AP2 site. A key factor for this is the energy hungry
warehouse lighting system.
Site Electricity use tCO2e
2000
1800
1600
1400
1200
2013
1000
2014
800
600
400
200
0
AP1
AP2
AP3
AP4
Gas kWh
2013
2014
AP1
3164808
2231508
AP2
614402
540608
AP3
576767
625532
AP4
451582
298273
AP5
483248
Excluding the AP5 site so a like for like comparison can be made, the overall gas
usage 2014 was 3695921 kWh vs 4807559 kWh for 2013 a 23.1% reduction.
The AP1 site suffers with heavy gas use from the roof mounted warehouse
heaters, an inefficient heating system but required to maintain the storage
temperatures set out by the MHRA.
Site Gas tCO2e
AP1
AP2
AP3
AP4
8%
17%
15%
8
60%
Environmental Management System
Site Gas use tCO2e
600
500
400
2013
300
2014
200
100
0
AP1
AP2
AP3
AP4
Water Use
Water use has varied by site due to a number of factors including the introduction
of reduced water flush devices, increased staff headcount and faulty plumbing.
Again for the purpose of year on year comparison AP5 has been excluded from
the water use figures, in 2013 the total water use was 5027 cubic meters vs 5271
in
n 2014 a 4.9% increase but in real terms this was down as the average staff
head count increased 22%.
Cubic meter water use
2000
1800
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
2013
2014
AP1
AP2
AP3
AP4
There are a number
mber of reasons for the differences
fferences in water use by site,
site both AP1
and
d AP2 sites used less water than 2013 but the sharp increase at AP3 was
down to a rise in staffing but interestingly
interestingly AP3 used the smallest amount
a
of water
per employee. AP4 used the least water but the most per employee,
employee, this is
because the basic toilet auto flush infrastructure continues to operate even
though the head count is low.
9
Environmental Management System
Late in 2014 the AP1 site had its warehouse toilet facilities refitted, part of this
was to use electronic sensor taps which switch on and off when hands are
sensed in the sink. It is anticipated that this should show some water savings
long term.
During the year there have been a 3 identified toilet leaks requiring repairs to the
cisterns, this did affect both AP2 and AP3 with a short term rise in water use.
Litres water used per employee
80
70
60
50
2013
40
2014
30
20
10
0
AP1
AP2
AP3
AP4
Air Pollution
UDG’s activities result in emission of a range of pollutants to the atmosphere. While
these are not significant compared to emissions from other sources in the county,
UDG is committed to reducing them from its own activities.
Carbon Dioxide, Nitrous Oxide and Hydro fluorocarbons are applicable to the
UDG operations. These air emissions are mainly from transport use, the use of
compressors, pumps, boilers, air conditioning, refrigeration plant and from energy
consumption in our buildings.
Within UDG the
he reduction of CO2, NOx and other particulates will be controlled
through the use of cleaner engines in the vehicle fleet. The UDG transport
department use HGV Euro 6 tractor units to replace
replace the older Euro 5 engine
vehicle.
If you've ever found your self-wondering
wondering just how far the transport industry has
come with regard to cleaning up diesel engine emissions then the chart below
should help you.
What it shows is the reduction in oxides of Nitrogen (NOx) and particulates (soot
to you and me) since Euro-1
Eu
in 1993 up to the Euro-6 released in 2013. Or to put
it another way over the past 20 years the exhaust footprint of a new truck has
gone from roughly a tennis court to a postage stamp...and here are the numbers:
10
Environmental Management System
EU emission standards Euro 1- Euro 6, measured in grams/kWh
NOx
PM
Euro 1 (1993)
8.0
0.36
Euro 2 (1996)
7.0
0.15
Euro 3 (2001)
5.0
0.10
Euro 4 (2006)
3.5
0.02
Euro 5 (2009)
2.0
0.02
Euro 6 (2013)
0.46 0.01
UDG always aim to be at the forefront of adopting the latest technology where it
can benefit the environment.
Business Mileage
The use of video conferencing to reduce the reliance on business travel is
becoming more acceptable, this has several advantages including reduced car
use and minimises lost time loss due to travel.
UDG are reducing business mileage where practical and the opportunity
presents.
All UDG fleet vehicles are diesel or dual fuel powered with the drive to move to
lower emission engines.
11
Environmental Management System
Waste Waste is produced at all UDG locations. All waste streams are segregated at
source and are stored safely and securely to meet the Environmental Protection
Act Duty of Care requirements and the Landfill Regulations.
Recycle materials such as paper, cardboard, cans and plastics are segregated
and collected separately. Any hazardous material is stored in appropriate labeled
containers with bunds. Any other general waste is disposed of via a licensed
carrier, to comply with the Waste Management Licensing Regulations.
Waste transfer notes covering general, recycle and sanitary waste are held
centrally.
Hazardous wastes produced in the offices and the main operations include
batteries, oils, fluorescent tubes, printer cartridges and waste electrical and
electronic equipment. A Hazardous Waste Consignment Note covers any
disposal and transfer of the hazardous waste.
As UDG produces over 200 Kg of hazardous waste per annum, it has been
registered with the Environment Agency as a hazardous waste producer, to
comply with the Hazardous Waste Regulations.
All waste transfer notes and hazardous waste consignment notes are retained for
a minimum of 3 years.
Recycling Performance
The recycling rate during 2014 decreased to 63% in 2013 the figure was 70%.
The reason for this lower rate is due to a particular client packaging waste stream
that is non-recyclable, it is estimated that this waste accounted for 40 tonnes, for
2015 this waste is being measured separately. The AP5 new build project also
created waste due to cleaning and tidying of the site post construction.
2011
Waste
Stream
Cardboard
Plastic
Wrap
Paper
Wood
Plastic
cups
Metal
2013
2012
%
Tonnes
%
Tonnes
%
Tonnes
%
Tonnes
53.9
288.2
42.3
270.0
49.7
345.1
45.8
346.42
5.6
29.8
11.7
74.6
10.4
72.1
12.4
94.22
0.6
9.8
3.2
52.5
0.5
10.4
3.3
66.0
0.3
7.8
3.0
54.0
0.6
2.5
4.68
18
-
-
0.5
3.2
-
-
0.6
3.7
Card Rolls
Cool
Blocks
General
Waste
Total
12
2014
N/A
0.3
2.5
0.1
0.5
1.4
N/A
0.4
3.0
Inc
Card
9.4
1.3
9.20
30.1
161.1
34.0
216.5
30.0
208.5
37.0
280.26
100.0
534.8
100.0
637.3
100.0
695.1
100
755.78
Environmental Management System
All non recyclable waste streams are sent to a waste to energy recovery facility,
making UDG a Zero to Landfill organisation. In line with the waste hierarchy the
UDG aim is to reduce the total waste produced which reduces the cost of waste
management both for collection and disposal. It also reduces the amount of
general waste with its associated costs, environmental impacts, including the
release of harmful greenhouse gases, and increases resource efficiency.
Client Waste
There is an element of waste that has disposal requirements on behalf of our
clients, no client waste is sent to land fill.
There are a number of options used:
Recycling
Product shredding and recycling
WEEE recycling
Destruction at an Energy Recovery Facility to produce electrical
power (ERF)
High Temperature Incineration (HTI)
Aerosol cans recycled (special treatment)
There was a 11.6% increase in client waste handled by UDG during 2014 this is
out of our direct control. The majority of waste is sent to the EFR rather than HTI
thus making use of the heat generated from the destruction.
Next Stages
There are two areas where no suitable cost effective resolution could be found.
Composting green waste
Recycling of glass
Further staff training, recycling and waste management opportunities will be
investigated with our waste management partners during 2015.
13
Environmental Management System
Environmental Risk Management The UDG Environmental Management System (EMS) was developed in line with the
ISO14001 standard. A critical part of this is the management of risk and the
completion of a detailed Aspects and Impact assessment has helped identify areas
of particular concern.
What we measure
The UDG Aspects and Impacts Register highlights the areas of positive and negative
environmental performance, this information has been linked to our environmental
targeting.
A schedule of internal environmental audits was set up for 2014 and was conducted
by suitably trained UDG employees; this measured our performance against the
standard and progress towards targets.
Internal auditing will continue and is backed up by twice yearly BSI external audits.
What have we done
The big challenge for 2014 was to set up the environmental management system
for the new AP5 site and identify associated risks.
The new site is low risk and has been judged accordingly.
Much of the design of the site has taken into account environmental aspects and
impacts, the site is now fully functional and working to the standards of the other
UDG operations.
Our Sustainability Environmental Procurement
Refrigerant plant had continued to be upgraded to more efficient designs with the
Deep Freeze being refurbished during 2014.
The LED replacement lighting programme continues with both internal and
external fittings now being installed, the AP3 site has had its warehouse lighting
changed to a T5 fluorescent system with the power hungry Metal Halide fittings
exchanged, it is estimated an energy saving of 30% could be achieved.
The recent takeover of UDG by Wallgreens Boots Alliance has helped build
relationships with the Carbon and Energy team at Boots head office and we are
now working together with regard future improvements and sharing technologies.
Work will continue with our suppliers to ensure we are focusing on the greenest
solutions that fit our business needs.
14
Environmental Management System
Targets and Objectives The main target for 2014 was the adoption of the AP5 site into the EMS, this has
been achieved with associated documentation, actions and programmes
completed.
The one area that is still awaiting action is the warehouse lighting upgrade in the
AP2 site. The design has been agreed but the budget requires authorisation.
There is substantial energy and cost saving opportunities from this work, it will be
carried to 2015.
The objectives and targets for 2015 are currently being complied and these will
include areas such as:
Degree Days, which will monitor and log temperatures internally and externally
throughout the year across all UDG sites. Heating degree days and cooling
degree days are used extensively in calculations relating to building energy
consumption.
Biodiversity around our sites –
UDG understands the importance of its interaction with the natural environment
and how the encouragement of wildlife, flora and fauna maintains a balance
around the Amber Park sites.
The range of species around the campus continued to be varied including many
summer visiting birds, as well as UK resident varieties.
Interesting bird sightings have included nesting Buzzards in the woods next to
campus, White Throat’s, Bull Finches and Long Tailed Tits in the shrubbery
in-between sites.
Male Bull Finch
15
White Throat
Environmental Management System
An exciting finding during 2014 has been the increase of owl activity on campus
with owl pellets being discovered under light fittings where the owls have been
roosting. Tawny owls have been seen, this is positive for vermin control.
Fox activity and prints have been seen following recent snow and the telltale sign
of rabbits (droppings) is providing a regular potential food source.
Staff Engagement
UDG recognises that to achieve the challenging targets set out in the Environment
Strategy all staff need to adopt good practices and behaviours. Whether it is
reducing paper consumption, business mileage, increasing recycling or reducing
waste, the actions and behaviours of individuals within UDG are the signposts of
success.
Therefore the degree of effective engagement with staff is considered an important
indicator of likely success.
Indications that the culture has changed towards an environmentally engaged
workforce are confirmed when employees question methods of waste stream
disposal, raise environmental observations and challenge colleague behaviours.
UDG have moved forward and will make further improvements during 2015.
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Environmental Management System