¿Qué tienen en común 850 paneles solares, un gigantesco sistema de recogida por aspiración, nuevas luminarias LED y un montón de papeleras azules en el número 100 de Armstrong Road, en Plymouth?
Todos ellos forman parte de los esfuerzos de Flexo Conceptspor "ir a green."
Hoy hablaremos con el director de ingeniería, el hombre detrás de la cortina, John Ferris, para conocer la historia detrás de estos cambios y cómo está liderando el camino en Flexo Concepts en lo que respecta a la sostenibilidad.
John, cuéntanos algunas de las cosas que ha hecho Flexo Concepts para reducir su huella de carbono.
Para empezar, Flexo Concepts instaló un sistema de energía solar renovable el año pasado que produce el 100% de la energía utilizada por nuestra empresa y los demás inquilinos del edificio. El sitio 
El proyecto, que incluía 850 paneles en el tejado, 40 inversores de potencia y todos los materiales necesarios para conectar la energía al edificio y a la red eléctrica, se completó en cinco meses. Nos enorgullece decir que todas nuestras instalaciones son ahora energéticamente independientes.
Además, hace dos años, equipamos todas nuestras instalaciones con iluminación LED más eficiente. The scope of the project consisted of all Flexo Concepts’ manufacturing and administrative space as well as the parking lot and other common areas of the building complex. Every bulb in the office areas was exchanged for an LED lamp and all lighting equipment in the shop and common areas was replaced with new fixtures that contain LED lamps.
¿Podría describirnos algunas de las formas menos obvias en que Flexo Concepts lidera el sector con sus prácticas de sostenibilidad?
One of my primary responsibilities as the engineering manager is to look for ways to develop products using materials and processes that don’t have a negative impact on the environment. Our R&D team and material suppliers work closely together to create polymer doctor blade materials that not only deliver performance to printers but also offer eco-friendly options to help our customers meet their sustainability goals. One of the criteria we use to select new materials and material combinations for testing is the eco-friendliness of the polymerizing methods. For example, the main polymer used to make our TruPoint Green® doctor blade is created from carbon monoxide that’s recaptured from a steel mill. If this vapor were released into the atmosphere, it would break down into carbon dioxide which is a well-known greenhouse gas.
Another example is the procedures we have in place to reduce, reuse and recycle waste throughout the company. Flexo Concepts recycles 100% of its manufacturing cardboard waste and has placed blue recycling bins at every desk and in common areas to collect office waste and food packaging. But, in addition to these more “typical” recycling practices, we have installed a central trim collection system in the manufacturing area to consolidate blade material waste. The system consists of a network of pipes from each point of plastic chip generation connected to a centralized suction machine. (As an added benefit, we found the system significantly reduced electricity usage by replacing the use of higher-amperage and landfill-disposable shop vacs at individual workstations.) The waste is then made available to be reused as filler by other industries.
John, explica cómo podrían adoptar este programa otras empresas del sector.
Any company can install a solar system, LED lighting and recycling bins in their facilities. But our efforts reach beyond the bricks and mortar of our facility to the printing industry as a whole. Our customers choose plastic doctor blades in part because they help reduce their carbon footprint. Producing steel is a highly energy-intensive process that uses up large quantities of fossil fuels and releases a significant amount of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Producing plastic uses much less energy, emits smaller volumes of greenhouse gases, and has lower transportation requirements due to local sourcing of raw materials and its relatively lighter weight. Plastic blades, such as our TruPoint Orange® doctor blade for the tag and label market, also lasts longer than steel in the press, which results in less start-up waste and fewer order deliveries. We believe, by setting this example, we can inspire other organizations in the industry to turn to their supply chains to source more eco-friendly components.
¿Qué tiene de particular su enfoque?
Our desire is to not only pursue environmental responsibility for our company but also help our customers achieve their sustainability goals is what makes our approach different. To our knowledge, we are the only global doctor blade manufacturer that uses 100% solar carbon-free energy to power its entire facility and the only blade manufacturer that uses recaptured carbon monoxide as a feedstock in our products.
Aunque todas las empresas quieren poder llamarse "green", creemos que hemos ido más allá para reducir la dependencia energética, mejorar la eficiencia y reciclar y reutilizar los residuos en toda nuestra organización. El plástico, como material, ha desarrollado una imagen negativa en la sociedad debido a una cultura de "vida de usar y tirar", su limitado reciclaje y su incapacidad para descomponerse en el medio ambiente. Como fabricante de rasquetas de plástico en una industria que utiliza principalmente acero (a veces denominado el "material más reciclado del planeta"), nos esforzamos por cambiar esta imagen negativa promoviendo las ventajas de nuestras operaciones y productos en "green".
¡Gracias, John!
[Read how we were awarded the “Calvin Frost Environmental Leadership Award” by the Tag and Label Manufacturers Institute in October 2018!]
Para conocer el impacto medioambiental de las rasquetas de plástico frente a las de acero:
[Descargue nuestra infografía "El impacto medioambiental de las hojas de bisturí"].
[Lea nuestro libro blanco "Reduzca su huella de carbono con las rasquetas de plástico "].
