MOST SUSTAINABLE PRIVATE SECTOR ORGANISATION
RUNNER UP NViro
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Viro was founded in 1992 as the result of a management buy-out of the Isle of Wight College contract services
department and is one of three subsidiaries of The Quarr Group, the other two being Pabulum (contract catering) and Mountjoy (building and maintenance services). The Group is privately owned and run by the founder members.
Group turnover has grown to £43m in 2010 with NViro contributing over £10m and employing close to 1200 staff. We classify ourselves as a medium-sized regional company that has the infrastructure to manage large contracts, but is small enough to offer a high level of personal service to clients. This commitment to client relationships at NViro is supported by our Director On Call service in which clients are encouraged to flag issues or concerns via a mobile telephone hotline carried by the Board Director who is ‘on call’ for the quarter.
NViro’s growth has been influenced by its strategy of targeting markets serviced by large national organisations that cannot compete in providing clients with operational support, flexibility and attention to detail. With its grounding in the public sector, NViro has considerable experience of transferring staff under TUPE, and of delivering competitively priced cleaning contracts.
EXPERIENCE AND AWARENESS OF ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS OF SERVICE DELIVERY
NViro’s Environmental Credentials NViro was awarded ISO14001 accreditation in May 2005.
As part of the ISO14001 requirement, NViro has produced an Environmental Management System, including an Environmental Procedures Manual which sets out our approach to managing our impact on the environment in five key areas:- • Use of cleaning materials and detergents
• Consumables packaging, waste minimisation and recycling • Transportation and Fuel
6| SUSTAINABLE FM AWARDS 2010
• Energy use in Equipment and Machinery
• Water conservation
In each of these areas activities have been identified to reduce impact, for example to review field management operating areas to ensure that the most economic use is made of vehicles, or to encourage clients to implement recycling schemes for paper, plastic and cans. Please see below for more detail on these activities
MANAGING OUR ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
Sustainable Cleaning Materials and Detergents
In the past we were in a constant battle to purchase materials from suppliers that could demonstrate a positive attitude to environmental issues and we were constantly reviewing chemicals purchased to ensure that they conformed to environmental requirements, were correct for the use to which they were being put and were the least environmentally damaging. For example in the past we replaced acid descaler with a citrus-based descaler which was less aggressive. We eventually reached a position where 100% of the chemicals that NViro used were biodegradable, ie they break down naturally within 24 hours when returned to the water system. However, in response to the increasing focus on environmental issues in response to the EU Biocidal Products Directive Amendment 2008 we have now gone one stage further and, following a re-tender of our cleaning materials we have selected a supplier whose products meet the most stringent environmental standards available for cleaning products as determined by DEFRA. The range is based on environmentally-friendly ingredients, making them extremely user-friendly and bio degradable. They are non-toxic, non- harmful to aquatic life, non-carcinogenic, compliant with environmental legislation and non-comedogenic to skin. They are accredited with the European Eco-Label, also known as The Flower which is the premier accreditation for products that satisfy stringent controls with respect to their environmental effects, as well as
confirming that they are as powerful as, and in most cases better than conventional cleaning products. However these products are only for everyday cleaning. Although they account for 90% of the products we use, there are still products used for other purposes that are not available with the Ecoflower accreditation that still need careful management. For example floor stripper or the descaler mentioned above. • We therefore still operate the following principles for such products and we
• Purchase materials from suppliers that can demonstrate a positive attitude to environmental issues and are on an Approved Supplier list
• Review chemicals purchased to ensure that they conform to environmental requirements, are correct for the use to which they are being put and are the least environmentally damaging.
• Make six-monthly checks with suppliers and trade magazines to seek information on new, less damaging products to replace existing products
• Any chemicals that cannot be disposed of through the water system, remove straight from site by a licensed carrier (in the case of large amounts) or return to the Portsmouth office where they will be disposed of in the same way
• Finally, we do not use chlorine due to its potential harmful effects if mixed with acid cleaners.
CONSUMABLES AND PACKAGING As a business we have introduced the following initiatives and have:- • Requested at clients’ premises that wherever a client has a plastics recycling programme in place, NViro can channel any used plastic containers into their system.
• Adopted a policy that where possible all paper or plastic products that we buy for our own use, or the purpose of redistribution are formed from recycled products
• Encouraged our client base to use
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