High standards of environmental performance are at the heart of all Brunner Mond’s commercial and manufacturing operations. We recognise that our activities have the potential to impact on the environment and we are committed to minimising the effect of our operations and products through the adoption of sustainable practices and a philosophy of continuous improvement.
Our teams of scientists and engineers work closely with external regulatory bodies, local and national government, trade organisations, specialist environmental consultancies and the communities in which we live and work to minimise any adverse impact of our operations and improve our standards of performance.
We take great pride in being supporters of the communities in which we operate having the greatest respect for all of the assets and amenities of each community. We promote and encourage environmental, social and educational development where possible and support our employees' involvement in local initiatives.
Environmental Management Systems (EMS) – ISO14001
An environmental management system (EMS) is a structured and documented system that can be used to manage a company’s environmental performance and responsibilities by minimising environmental risk, meeting legislative requirements and demonstrating continual improvement.
Brunner Mond's UK site is accredited to the internationally recognised EMS standard, ISO14001,
which indicates that we identify and manage the key elements of operation that could impact on the environment.
Brunner Mond’s EMS is based on the key elements of ISO14001 such as:
- Environmental policy
- Planning, implementation and operation
- Checking and corrective action
- Management review
and has been externally accredited to requirements of ISO14001 by LRQA since 1998.
Industrial installations in England and Wales have been subject to environmental regulation in some form or other for over 150 years. The Pollution Prevention and Control (England & Wales) Regulations 2000 were introduced under the Pollution Prevention and Control Act 1999 and build on existing systems. They have progressively replaced the pollution control regime set up under Part I of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA 1990).
The PPC Regulations introduced three separate, but linked, systems of pollution control, one of which is Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control. This applies to Brunner Mond’s UK plants, known as A(1) installations, which are regulated by the Environment Agency.
This system applies an integrated environmental approach to the regulation of certain industrial activities and is the means by which the Government has implemented the European Community Directive on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (96/61/EC), the primary aim of which is to ensure a high level of environmental protection that will prevent and where that is not practicable, will reduce emissions to acceptable levels. Regulators set permit conditions, which are based on the use of the ‘Best Available Techniques’, which balance the cost to the operator against benefits to the environment.
Brunner Mond (UK) Limited received PPC Permits for its Sites in Northwich West and Northwich East in February 2007 and October 2007 respectively. The cover sheets from the Permits of these Sites are included on this website. Copies of the complete PPC permits can be viewed on the Public Registers held by the Environment Agency and
Cheshire West and Chester Council.
From April 2008, these Permits became Environmental Permits under The Environmental Permitting (England & Wales) Regulations 2007