SUSTAINABILITY
SETTING STANDARDS
Leadership on sustainability is part of the corporate culture at palace chemicals, the company explains.
Care for customers, staff, the community and the environment are all features of the company culture at Palace Chemicals. Sustainability and customer service are two sides of the same coin, which start with a caring philosophy, going back 47 years.
As a leading independent manufacturer of tiling, building, construction and DIY products since 1978, Palace Chemicals aims to set the industry benchmark for sustainability, both in terms of its new product launches and also the environmental measures installed at its Liverpool manufacturing facility.
Continual investment in the company’s production facilities means that Palace is able both to serve its customers better, fulfilling orders in full and on time, while at the same time demonstrating its commitment to achieving net zero carbon by 2050. This extends all the way to the day-to-day operations of the business. On the sustainability front, the company is very careful in its manufacturing processes and with regard to the raw materials it uses to minimise its environmental impact.
Having gained its ISO 14001 BSI accreditation for Environmental Management Systems nearly 20 years ago, the team continually searches for ways to reduce the company’s carbon footprint and create superior manufacturing systems, better working conditions and a healthier planet.
Last year the company installed more than 300 solar panels, and these now supply the majority of the energy required for the company’s production processes. Additionally, the rest
of Palace’s energy requirements are from a provider which only supplies renewable energy, meaning that all the energy the company uses comes from renewable sources.
As well as its production processes, Palace also focuses on the sustainability of its product range. For example the EXTRA-LITE range is designed to meet the needs of the modern tiling market, where lightweight easy-to-use products are in demand.
EXTRA-LITE STANDARD SET is an ultra-lightweight, thin and thick-bed, flexible tile adhesive, which features a highly polymer fortified S1 formulation to provide the flexibility required for fixing large format tiles and panels or where slight movement or vibration is likely. The product’s flexibility makes it suitable for use where underfloor heating is installed. Mixed with water it creates a high-yield, lightweight and easy-to-apply paste with an extended open time and 50% reduced weight for each square metre applied.
There is also a rapid-set version, EXTRA-LITE FAST SET, that provides all the benefits of the STANDARD product but additionally has a working pot life of up to 60 minutes and cures to allow light foot traffic within just three hours after application.
Critically, as well as its performance advantages, the EXTRA-LITE range is also a more sustainable choice, since it contains more than 40% recycled material, comprising sustainable raw materials taken from low carbon production processes. It nonetheless provides the same performance as equivalent products with double the coverage capability, meaning that users only need to transport smaller volumes to each job.
Palace has also worked hard with its packaging suppliers to convert over 2m containers, so they are now produced entirely from post-consumer recycled plastic (PCR). Additionally, it has removed more than 80,000 composite paper sacks from its waste system, with almost 100% of its raw materials now handled via a fully automated bulk transfer system. This innovation alone has resulted in a huge reduction in waste as well as reducing the volume and frequency of transportation to and from the plant.
www.palacechemicals.co.uk
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www.tomorrowstileandstone.co.uk
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