SAFETY, HEALTH & ENVIRONMENT REPORT 2004

We are always aware that the things we do have the potential to upset our neighbours if we do them wrong. Over the past eight years we have reduced the number of community complaints by 95% to about two per month for our Northwich site operations.
	The concept of self regulation means that if something goes wrong not only do we have to inform the Environment Agency but we also have to explain what happened and what remedial action we intend to take to prevent it happening again. This is what drives continuous improvement. The performance graphs show that over the past few years we have delivered a significant reduction in notifications.
The positive measure for this drive for improvement is in our compliance with the standards we must achieve with regard to the air and aqueous environment. This has remained at a very high level in excess of 99%.

SOUND PRACTICE

One particular aspect of community complaints in the past was noise. Compliants could be traced to a number of factors - ageing power stations, unsteady operations, steam and gas venting as well as a raft of mechanical noises from conveyors and pumps to vacuum machines. However recent performance has shown that by attention to detail, changes to operating procedures and of course the steady operation of the new power station noise complaints have been virtually eliminated. Although a total of 10 noise complaints were received at Northwich West during 2004, there have been no noise complaints at either Northwich East or Northwich West since July 2004.

AIR QUALITY

Over the past two years there has been a focus on dust, particularly the very fine dust known as PM10 which are typically caused by combustion processes (coal and oil) and motor vehicles. Because of air quality standards set by UK regulation, Vale Royal Borough Council was required to submit data to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) on air quality in the region. It is quite common under these circumstances to use mathematical models or dispersion modelling to predict the impact of particular point source releases and the modelling predictions by VRBC suggested that the Northwich area may have a specific problem with fine dust emissions. The investigation programme they carried out culminated in two independent sampling programmes, one by the Environment Agency and the other initiated by VRBC. Both have clearly indicated that fine particles of dust in the air is not a problem and that actual measurements of dust inside the factory have confirmed that we have virtually no impact on our neighbours.

Opportunity to improve

Against the backcloth of environmental achievement Brunner Mond was very disappointed to receive an Enforcement Notice issued by the EA. This was not related to the daily environmental compliance against consents but was a result of failing to submit a response to improvement items within the allotted time scale. This served as a timely reminder that self regulation is not only about compliance with specific environmental standards it is also about total delivery of what has been asked of you by the regulator.

We have continued with our programme of demolishing and removing redundant plant assets, giving priority to those that present a hazard or whose removal can improve the visual appearance of the site for our neighbours.

The chimneys at the old Lostock power station have been demolished.
The redundant bicarb structures have been removed, improving the appearance of the wharf which faces Anderton Boat Lift

WASTE ELIMINATION

We introduced our 'War on Waste' project towards the end of 2003 with the aim of significantly recucing the amount of waste we generate, particularly the waste that has to be disposed of at Landfill sites. We see reducing waste is not only good environmental practice but it is also good business, preventing the loss of valuable resources and profitability. In 2003 the average monthly weight of waste to landfill was 644 tonnes and in 2004 we reduced this to 306 tonnes. This still gives us some way to go until we achieve zero waste but good progress is being made.

Environmental Management Certificate Renewal (ISO 14001)

Our environmental management systems are certified to the ISO 14001 standard. Certification requires that our systems are audited by an external assessor. The company we use for this is Lloyds. To comply with the standard our systems have to be assessed every 6 months (surveillance visit) with a full systems audit every 3 years. A full systems audit was carried out in July. The visit went well with some improvements suggested by the assessor. In particular he advised us how to improve our waste management systems on both sites. Since the visit we have implemented all the improvements suggested and we are now beginning to see the benefits.

CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENTS INTO THE FUTURE

Preparation for PPC

The legislative requirements for environmental permitting are changing again in 2005 with new regulations under the "PPC" (Polution Prevention Control) due to come into effect.

Brunner Mond has two operating sites in Northwich, one at Lostock (Northwich East) and one at Winnington (Northwich West) both of which are required to submit applications for new permits between June and August 2005. Preparatory work started in 2004 and will run through the first half of 2005.

Wallerscote Remediation

While we continue to look forward to the future of our business we cannot and must not forget the legacy of the past. In particular Brunner Mond has been very active with Cheshire County Council working on plans that could transform the old Wallerscote Limebeds into an area of public open space and a very valuable adjunct to the proposed Weaver Regional Park. The REVIVE project, sponsored by the North West Development Agency (NWDA) has been carrying out a feasibility study on recovering the waste site and turning it into an area that could be enjoyed by the residents of Mid Cheshire. This is an exciting opportunity and Brunner Mond continues to work with CCC to find an appropriate way to deliver this project.

CARBON TRUST

Set up by the Government, the Carbon Trust helps organisations make business sense of climate change. Its pilot Carbon Management programme assists companies to develop proactive and robust carbon management strategies. Brunner Mond is working with the Carbon Trust and with environmental consultants Enviros, to establish the best ways of reducing carbon emissions in line with Brunner Mond's overall business plans and Government objectives.

The Carbon Trust, which was set up by Government and business to help the UK to make the transition to a low carbon economy, estimates that if all FTSE500 businesses were to implement similar solutions, then the UK's annual carbon dioxide emissions would be reduced by 10 million tonnes. The pilot Carbon Management scheme is looking for ways to exploit these opportunities and mitigate against the risks. Companies such as Brunner Mond are leading the way in both helping reduce the impact of climate change and increasing our own cost-efficiency.

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