Evertaut Fisp Case Study

8/13/2019 Evertaut Fisp Case Study

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Furniture Industry

Sustainability

Programme

Case Study

Evertaut LtdBlackburn



Environmental PolicyUnlike many companies of this size Evertaut

does have a documented environmental policy,

which is publicly available on request. Senior

management has signed the policy and resources

are in place to progress the policy commitments.

However, the policy is not externally veried and

although based on ISO 14001 the company does

not have certication to this standard. The policy is

reviewed on a regular basis.

Going forward the company will need to add to

the policy a reference to ensure legal compliance

and a sentence conrming that environmental

improvements are being introduced and met.

Some work will also be needed to ensure that

all staff are familiar with the policy and working

together to meet its requirements. Full commitment

from all staff is crucial.

Legal ComplianceBoth environmental and health and safety

legislation is monitored by consultants who

undertake various assessments and also

conduct annual audits for environment

compliance. The sub contracted consultants

ensure that all legal requirements are met.

The company is also updated on environmental

issues by Groundwork. Evidence of compliance is

available through the records issued by the

consultant. Registers of applicable legislation are

available for health and safety and a responsible

person has been nominated for compliance and

dissemination of any legal up-dates.

To progress towards Full membership of FISP the

documentation of an environmental legislation

register would be a pre-requisite and extremely

benecial to the company.

To aid the objective of benchmarking performance

within the sector, Evertaut is willing and able to

supply information regarding reportable accidents,

prosecutions (if any), improvement notices (if any)

and the number of lost days/sickness per employee.

These gures will be crucial in establishing theindustry’s current position and highlighting trends.

From this, strategies may be developed to introduce

performance improvements and improve the

competitiveness of UK furniture manufacturers.

Sector Sustainability ChallengeFIRA International Ltd has been instrumental in the establishment of a sustainability strategy for the

furniture sector. The result is the Furniture Industry Sustainability Programme (FISP), which was

launched in February 2006. The DTI and DEFRA have encouraged this process through the Sector

Sustainability Challenge – a funding programme to which FIRA successfully submitted a proposal to

document two case studies. These are intended to provide practical advice to other companies that

wish to follow the path to FISP membership and sustainable operation.

Core Commitments: All companies wishing to become Full members of the

Programme must comply with the two ‘core commitments’:

EvertautEvertaut is a small manufacturing company (12 employees) based in Blackburn that offers

bespoke seating solutions to the theatre, ofce, and education sectors. The company will be

joining FISP as an Associate member and will be working towards Full membership

over the next 12 months.

Evertaut HQ in Blackburn



1. Environmental

Management Systems

The company does not have a certied environmental

management system (EMS) to ISO 14001 2004.

It does however have a quality system to ISO 9001 and

may be looking to expand this to cover a certied EMS.

This process may be a long-term goal. As such the company

would benet from considering BS 8555 Guide to the phased

implementation of an environmental management system.This standard allows for phased implementation, gaining third party

approval at the different phases until a full EMS has been achieved.

Some environmental management is already undertaken and this is

evident through initiatives such as changing the adhesives used from

solvent based to water based. Further initiatives such as this should be

encouraged and results recorded as proof of ‘continual improvement’.

2. Waste Management

The volumes of waste generated are monitored through skip use and

disposal. The company lls only one skip per week and nds it

difcult to reduce this volume. Insufcient quantities of waste are

produced to allow segregation to be realistic, as the volumes are too small

to attract recyclers. Data on waste generation will be available to the FISP

benchmarking exercise. The ‘Duty of Care’ requirements under the

Environmental Protection Act Part 2 for waste disposal are met.

The company has not registered as a hazardous waste producer as no

hazardous waste has been produced since the Hazardous Waste Regulations

were introduced in 2005.

Some ofce waste recycling initiatives (toners and print cartridges) are

undertaken. In addition pallets are recycled.

Although the volume of waste produced is relatively small any initiative to reduce

costs associated with landlling must be considered. Potential options could

include recycling materials such as cardboard with other companies on the same

industrial estate, or requesting that their waste contractor direct skips to a transfer

station rather than a landll site.

Environmental Commitments: Companies

wishing to attain Full membership status of FISP

must comply with at least 5 of the following 9

commitments. All of the commitments were

considered here for the benet of the case study.



4. Packaging Management

The volumes of packaging used are monitored even though the

company is well below the current thresholds that demand compliancewith the Packaging Waste Regulations (approx. 1 tonne per year).

The company has done much to improve packaging optimisation including

the use of alternative materials where appropriate. Reuseable plastic bags

have been introduced to replace much of the cardboard that was routinely

disposed of after each delivery.

Pallets are recycled, and cardboard reused wherever possible.

The company should investigate ways of using returnable packaging

such as blankets. This may be difcult if deliveries are carried out by a

sub-contractor but not impossible.

Incoming packaging is always a problem and due to the relatively small

quantities received, persuading suppliers to alter their methods of delivery

may be difcult. However, this shouldn’t be discounted and discussions

should be instigated.

Fuel consumption is monitored and recorded. Deliveries however, are made using

a sub-contracted haulier and no data is currently collected. The number of miles perdelivered product is not calculated at present as this will require information from the

haulier, which as yet is not available. The haulier does however optimise loads and use

the most economical routes.

All staff live locally and car sharing happens without too much encouragement.

3. Energy Management

Energy consumption is currently monitored in the factory and bills

are analysed. Figures for energy consumption in carbon tonnes

equivalent are available to FISP via the Enworks online toolkit with

which the company is registered.

Attempts to reduce energy use are evident by the purchase of a new

compressor, which has led to a big reduction in energy costs.

All staff are encouraged to turn off lights and equipment when not in use,

but stickers and posters should be used in order to reinforce this.

5. Transport Management



6. Procurement

The company has a procurement policy within its

quality system and this includes environmental and

social issues. All timber and wood based product suppliers

are asked to provide policy statements. Most suppliers are

EU based, although the company is aware of some products

coming indirectly from the Far East.

With the exception of timber, the company does not ask

suppliers to complete questionnaires, although this is something

that will be implemented for the future. This will allow them to rate

suppliers according to their environmental and sustainable

credentials

At the moment recyclable products are purchased wherever

practicable. Timber based materials will obviously be recyclable but

other components are difcult to assess at procurement stage.

Third party guidance on sutainable procurement would be helpful.

At present little is done with assessing the ethics of the overseas supply

chain, especially those materials that arrive indirectly. Pressure should be

placed on suppliers to provide more information in this respect.

The company does not have a certiable chain of custody system as yetalthough it does request certied timber and products from its suppliers.

The company does however comply with the Government’s

timber procurement policy, and is aware of the CITES Regulations

(Convention on International Trade in endangered Species) although copies of

the relevant appendices are not held. Evertaut currently utilises European Beech

and Birch, timbers that are not affected by such regulations.

The company should consider ensuring that suppliers verify the origins of their tim-

ber supply and where appropriate provide certicates of chain of custody.

A longer term goal may be for the company to achieve its own chain of custody

certication so that certied products may be passed on to their own customers.

Figures on volumes of

certied materials

purchased will be

available to the

Programme.

7. Sustainable Timber Purchasing

Evertaut ‘s upholstery department



The company has identied its main emissions to air as VOCs

from use of solvents (1 tonne per year used, therefore below

thresholds for authorisation). These emissions are monitored for

health and safety reasons and for local authority requirements. A

solids to solvents ratio is available from the supplier. The only other

potential air pollutants are dust and noise. These are well controlled.

8. Air Emissions

9. End of Life

The company does not operate a take back system, although

they will refurbish returned goods where requested.

Any furniture returned to the factory for reasons such as damage

is reworked or remanufactured wherever practicable. However,

less than 1% of product is returned.

Design processes do consider end of life and ensure that the products are

manufactured for easy disassembly, recyclability and longevity.

The company has an informal system in place to record and manage

nuisance complaints from neighbours and takes noise readings within the factory.

The company will be able to supply the number of complaints received in a

twelve-month period and report on whether or not any prosecutions for statutory

nuisance have been initiated. In both cases the answer is currently zero.

A more formal system needs to be introduced to enable complaints to be recorded

and actioned.

The company is involved with the local employment forum and has good

housekeeping and landscaping which benet the surrounding area.

At the moment there is no contact with local schools or other community

organisations.

1. Nuisance Management

Social and Economic Commitments: Companies must

comply with at least two of the six commitments in this

section. Again all were considered for the benet of this case

study

2. Community Relations



All staff receive training relevant to their job function and

records are kept, which means the average number of days

of training per employee could be calculated.

The company uses both external training bodies such

as the local chamber of commerce and internal personnel.The need for training on sustainable issues has been identied.

The company currently employs 12 staff. This has fallen slightly

in the last twelve months. The company will actively employ local

contractors as long as they meet the skills required to undertake

the task. A distance of no more than 5 miles is recommended by the

company for contractors to travel. The working environment within

the business is good and staff turnover is described as stable.

The majority of workers are long term employees.

The company makes the occasional donation to local charities.

Cost savings from environmental initiatives are not recorded. A more formal

EMS will ensure that this happens. Records of savings as a percentage

of turnover would be advantageous.

3. Education and Training

4. Employment

5. Charity Work

6. Competitiveness

Evertaut’s manufacturing and storage area



The company would benet immensely from joining FISP as an Associate

member and would likely achieve Full membership status within 9 to 12 months

if recommendations were adopted.

Some work is required on the environmental policy and documenting a health, safety

and environmental register of applicable legislation would ensure that the FISP corecommitments are met.

Extra work on waste and energy recording and ensuring that the procurement policy is

updated to meet the requirements of the Programme could be done relatively quickly.

More documented evidence would be required to ensure that certied timber is

purchased and consideration should be given to implementing the company’s own

chain of custody system.

With assistance from FIRA and the information in the FISP workbook (received by all

member companies) Evertaut should attain the core commitments and at least ve of

the nine environmental commitments with a modest amount of effort.

The company complies with most of the commitments on the social and economic

section with little additional work required. Some further training on sustainability

could be introduced.

For more information on how to become a member of the Furniture

Industry Sustainability Programme contact Alun Watkins at Fira on

01438 777700 or visit www.askra.co.uk

“ Although we are already working on environmental projects, FISP will help us to identify

further opportunities for improvement and allow us to benchmark our performance against

similar companies in the industry.”

Nigel Smalley, Director, Evertaut

Evertaut Ltd

Sovereign House

Lions Drive

Shadsworth Business Park

Blackburn

BB1 2QS

Telephone 01254 297880

Conclusions

Evertaut Fisp Case Study

Documents

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