With all the other pressures on manufacturer’s what with material price rises and issues with supply chain and freight, we are also undergoing another industrial revolution. This time to make it more sustainable and friendlier to the environment. It can seem like a daunting challenge, but help is available for businesses. For example, SWMAS put us in touch with Balanced energy to help us break down the tasks required and calculate the likely costs of becoming carbon net zero. We report regularly to track our progress towards this goal.
Now Lloyds bank has provided some excellent guidance for industry called the UK Manufacturing now to Net Zero Report. A practical guide for SMEs https://www.lloydsbank.com/business/resource-centre/insight/sme-journey-to-net-zero.html This breaks down in detail how the UK companies are doing, how carbon is measured and contains useful sections on different aspects of how to save energy. There is also information on what additional help is available from the government. Really good practical advice and stresses the need for inter-company collaboration.
Guy Atkins, Managing Director, took part in one of the round table discussions at the National Composites Centre (NCC), which were hosted by Lloyds Bank. This included not only senior leaders in SMEs but also representatives of the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) and the NCC. This helped them gain insights into the issues facing SMEs in Manufacturing when it comes to achieving Carbon Net Zero. For example, finding out what the carbon content is of all the raw materials and components used in the manufacturing.
During a follow-up an in-depth interview with Guy, he discussed how the company took the first steps to reduce energy consumption in 2013, “At the time there was no overall plan or goal, it just seemed like the right thing to do”. He then stated that Carbon Net Zero is now a strategic priority, and that there are major challenges to be overcome to achieve the goal of halving CO2 output by 2030 and being net zero by 2050. At present, as the report states, only 6% of UK businesses have achieved carbon net zero to date.”