Pland Environmental Statement

Pland is committed to the effective and responsible management of its business activities in such a way as to ensure minimum environmental disturbance.

Pland intends to manage its affairs and activities so as to meet the interests of its owners, clients, employees and the public. We are therefore committed to the development and implementation of a corporate environmental policy.

In developing this environmental policy Pland recognises that:

1. Design specifications and procedures relating to certain contracting operations may be partly or completely outside the control or influence of Pland.
2. Pland's activities will have some effect on the environment.
3. A satisfactory environmental performance is essential to our business.

The aims of this policy are to:

1. Minimise environmental disturbance in our activities.
2. Minimise waste and conserve energy and water.
3. Meet all applicable government guidelines, regulations and industry codes of practice.
4. Be aware of environmental factors in commercial decision making.
5. Work with professional bodies, clients and environmental stakeholders, taking the initiative where appropriate, to upgrade codes of practice and generally improve the environmental efficiency of manufacturing, supply and installation.
6. Ensure that subcontractors and suppliers are aware of and adhere to environmental standards compatible with our own.
7. Encourage and manage our environmental policy and regularly review our objectives to ensure that they are being achieved.

Stainless steel and the environment

Pland manufactures in stainless steel for the majority of its products. Stainless steel is 100% recyclable and therefore less harmful to the environment than many other materials in common use.

Manufacturing sustainability

The main component of stainless steel is scrap iron, of which there is no shortage. Pland uses stainless steel which comprises over 90% recycled material. This percentage is increasing. Pland will encourage and work with its raw material suppliers to increase the proportion of scrap iron used in stainless steel production.

Other metallic components are chromium and molybdenum, which are plentiful within the earth's crust, and nickel, which comprises around 10% of the standard austenitic stainless steel grades. Nickel is less abundant but is not in short supply and is recycled increasingly effectively. Pland will encourage and work with its raw material suppliers to increase the proportion of recycled metals used in stainless steel production.

Embodied energy

The quantity of energy required for manufacture of a product, the embodied energy, is highly relevant to reducing environmental impact. More efficient process technology has allowed steelmakers to significantly reduce the amount of energy used in the production of stainless steel over the past three decades. Pland's suppliers halved the energy required to produce stainless steel over the last decade and will reduce it further into the future.

During fabrication stainless steel's low thermal conductivity makes soldering and welding more energy efficient than with many other metals. At Pland we are totally committed to maintaining and investing in our manufacturing plants. Our philosophy is to reinvest a sum at least equal to our net profit each year. This helps ensure that the company is using up-to-date technologies that are increasingly energy efficient and thus reducing the amount of embodied energy across Pland's product range.

Whole life costs

Pland's products have a life expectancy of at least decades, meaning that energy and other costs of manufacture are spread over a very long period and thus products have very low whole life costs.

The material has a high scrap value and can be completely recycled at the end of a product's long life. All manufacturing scrap is recycled.

Paper and packaging

Pland uses and handles quantities of paper and packaging in its activities. The use of paper is highly sustainable as not only is suitable timber grown in sustainable forests but paper is also frequently recycled. Pland requires that its employees use paper recycling bins and that all waste paper and cardboard is recycled.

The board of directors is committed to the implementation of this policy.