Every time Glenhaze opened its factory doors, it wasn’t just the latest consignment of innovative packaging that left the building. As the doors rolled up, the heat rolled out.
And so did the pounds and pennies as the Bathgate company found its energy bills continuing to rise.
But the company, which designs and manufactures packaging solutions for the drinks and cosmetic sector, is now enjoying thousands of pounds of energy savings after taking advantage of free Government-funded support.
Operations manager Lynn Johnstone said: “We had a few issues that we really had to overcome, so for me the job was to ensure that we had the right environment for our staff, that we could lower our costs and also reduce our carbon emissions.
“The problem that we had was basically the rising cost for the heating within the factory. We have a large open factory floor with workspaces with varying requirements.
“We also have opening roller shutters in the warehouse space that connects to the factory floor. So, when we opened the doors for loading and unloading with our old and inefficient space heaters, we could heat the air but as soon as the door opened, we’d lost it.
“So, for us, the solution seemed to work best with radiant heating. This allowed us to get direct heating on the areas where it is required.
Glenhaze was supported by Zero Waste Scotland’s Energy Efficiency Business Support Service that found by swapping the existing space heaters to gas-fired radiant heaters, energy consumption would be cut by 41% and there would be an annual saving of more than £2,000. The switch to radiant heating has also lowered the company’s carbon emissions by more than 11 tonnes.
The £14,000 investment was funded with an eight-year interest-free Scottish Government SME Loan that came with 30% cashback.
Lynn said: “Without help from Zero Waste Scotland, I just wouldn’t have known where to start. There have been bumps in the road, changes along the way, but Zero Waste Scotland has been there the whole way through to help and guide me.”
David Gunn, Zero Waste Scotland business support programme manager, said: “In the year of COP26, it’s never been a more important time to collectively reduce our energy use and carbon emissions. The efforts of all the businesses supported by Zero Waste Scotland’s Energy Efficiency Business Support Service helps Scotland to play its part in tackling climate change and achieve our net-zero targets.”
To find out more visit www.energy.zerowastescotland.org.uk.
