Environmental
Environmental performance across Charter is measured in terms of energy consumption (direct and indirect), greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (expressed as CO2e) and waste sent to landfill and water consumption.
Charter’s performance against these indicators, for 2007 and 2008, is presented below. The 2008 data has been updated from those reported in the Annual Report as ESAB discovered an error, as described below.
Charter Environmental KPIs
| 2007 | 2008 | % change 2007-2008 |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue (£mn) | 1451.1 | 1887.0 | 30.0% |
| Energy (GJ) | 1527706 | 2019121 | 32.2% |
| GHG (CO2e) | 299289 | 365572 | 22.2% |
| Waste to landfill (t) | 9206 | 10145 | 10.2% |
| Water consumed (m3) | 1311034 | 1316181 | 0.4% |
2009 figures will be published by the end of 2010, when performance data for Howden will be available to combine with data for ESAB, which are presented below.
Overall, however, the data indicates that, although there were increases in the environmental burden across all indicators, this was driven by the increase in business activity, as reflected in the revenue increase of 30%. In fact, the data show that despite a proportional increase in energy consumption, GHG emissions, waste to landfill and water consumption all increased by smaller amounts, reflecting eco-efficiency gains.
ESAB
ESAB operations account for more than 90% of the total Charter environmental burden across these indicators, e.g. in 2008 ESAB’s contributions were:
- Energy: 92%
- GHG: 94%
- Waste: 93%
- Water: 95%
After a 30% rise between 2007 and 2008, ESAB sales fell by 18% between 2008 and 2009, resulting in significant reductions across all environmental indicators, as the table below shows.
ESAB Environmental KPIs
| 2007 | 2008 | % change 2007-2008 | 2009 | % change 2008-2009 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue (£mn) | 1077.7 | 1259.8 | 29.8% | 1031.4 | -18.1% |
| Energy (GJ) | 1408787 | 1886046 | 33.9% | 1536790 | -18.5% |
| GHG (CO2e) | 281629 | 346339 | 23.0% | 255002 | -26.4% |
| Waste to landfill (tonnes) | 8694 | 9460 | 8.8% | 7234 | -23.5% |
| Water (m3 consumed) | 1248292 | 1252575 | 0.3% | 876946 | -30.0% |
Over the period 2007 to 2009, there were eco-efficiency gains in terms of GHG emissions, waste consumption and water consumption. Between 2008 and 2009 the percentage decreases in these indicators were all greater than the drop in revenue and energy consumption.
The waste data include waste from a major project at the Monterey site, in Mexico, that resulted in an additional 650 tonnes of waste going to landfill in 2008.
We should highlight that the ESAB energy and GHG performance data take account of corrections to the 2008 dataset, which had formed the basis of the performance numbers presented for ESAB in the 2009 Annual Report. The table below summarises the corrections that we have made.
Corrections to ESAB environmental data presented in the 2009 Annual Report
| ESAB 2008 data reported in 2009 Annual Report | Corrected ESAB 2008 data |
% error | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy (GJ) | 1516299 | 1886046 | 24% |
| GHG (CO2e) | 306587 | 346339 | 13% |
The reason for the errors was a miscalculation of the energy content in the coal used in the steam generating boilers at Vamberg, in the Czech Republic. There were also some inconsistencies in how we accounted for the energy used in generating steam that is sold (this type of error is isolated to Vamberk since that is the only location where we generate and sell energy).
Vamberk, nevertheless, demonstrated significant progress in 2009 in reducing its energy and GHG emissions through a number of measures:
- reducing the total energy consumed by 30%
- reducing the percentage of coal used
- changing the supplier of electricity to one using 42% coal in 2009 instead of 67% coal in 2008.
The 30% reduction in energy consumption was mainly due to a 20% reduction of production volumes and a 50% reduction of fused flux production, a very energy intensive process. There have also been benefits from more than 50 energy efficiency projects at Vamberk, including compressed air improvements, closed circuits for cooling water, new lighting systems throughout the factory, thermostats for air temperature and installation of a new, better insulated oven.
Howden
Howden’s performance against these indicators for 2007 and 2008 is presented below. 2009 figures will be published by the end of 2010.
Howden Environmental KPIs
| 2007 | 2008 | % change 2007-2008 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue (£mn) | 480.3 | 627.2 | 30.6% |
| Energy (GJ) | 118919 | 133075 | 11.9% |
| GHG (CO2e) | 17660 | 19233 | 8.9% |
| Waste to landfill (t) | 512 | 685 | 33.8% |
| Water consumed (m3) | 62742 | 63606 | 1.4% |
Overall, however, the Howden data indicate that, although there were increases in the environmental burden across all indicators, this was driven by the increase in business activity, as reflected in the revenue increase of 31%. In fact, the data show that, despite an increase in energy consumption in proportion to increased revenue, the GHG emissions and water consumption increased by smaller amounts, reflecting eco-efficiency gains.
Howden’s waste to landfill increased by 34%, representing a 2.5% increase in waste per unit of revenue. The main reason for this increase was a one-off manufacturing process change that resulted in an unusually high level of scrap.
Health
To respond to the H1N1 flu virus, the business continuity plan was implemented, with Charter’s crisis management team monitoring developments and issuing frequent communications. This ensured appropriate actions were taken at all businesses and continue to be taken.
Safety
We are pleased to report that no fatalities occurred in 2009 (including on-site contractors). Nevertheless, we regret that during the year we recorded six amputations, all involving fingers, five to employees and one to a contractor. These incidents are considered unacceptable and we have placed the highest priority on investigating the root causes and implementing corrective action plans in each case.
Charter’s operational goal for safety is zero lost time injuries. Progress towards this goal is monitored by tracking the lost time injury frequency rate, expressed as the number of lost-time injuries per 200,000 hours worked (LTIFR). The expectation is to achieve at least a 10 per cent year-on- year reduction. In 2009, the LTIFR was 1.17, around 24% less than in 2008, and 50% less than in 2007.
The number of days away from work per 200,000 hours worked was reduced by 26% from 40 in 2008 to 29.5 in 2009. These numbers include acquisitions. The total number of hours worked in 2009 was 24.5 million compared to 26.1 million in 2008, a reduction of 6%.
In 2008 and 2009, the total numbers of first aid injuries and near misses were also recorded. Just under 3,400 such incidents were recorded in 2009, an increase of 76% from 2008. This reflects our effort to identify and correct hazardous situations before they can lead to a more serious injury. We continue to eliminate the root causes through use of hazard and risk assessment tools.
