As a business, we have a duty of care to the environment. Whilst certain pieces of legislation have already been put in place by successive Governments, there is clearly more to come. Trying to second-guess exactly what shape and form these will take is near impossible, but here at Cubicle Centre, we have taken several steps to mitigate our impact on the environment and climate. Clearly this is a fluid ongoing process, and we will provide updates regularly.

Current initiatives in place

  • Our offices are heated by means of modern ‘Heat Pumps’ and are the most environmentally friendly means of doing so currently available on the market.
  • Our factory is currently gas heated*, and to make this more efficient, we have installed a sophisticated system of downflow / recirculating fans in conjunction with efficient thermostat / timer systems, all of which reduce possible wasted heat and energy.
  • Factory roller shutter doors are protected by heat retaining clear PVC curtains.
  • We separate all waste into three clearly defined groups, each of which are removed by specialist contractors for recycling.
  • Wherever possible (bearing in mind this is largely customer specification-driven), we use wood-based sheet materials from sustainable sources, and to this end we are members of the FSC (Forestry Stewardship Council) They are an internationally recognised non-profit, multistakeholder organization established in 1993 that promotes responsible management of the world’s forests.
  • In November 2021, we have committed to two new commercial delivery vehicles which comply with the latest ‘Euro-6’ emission standards. All other company vehicles are post 2015 and comply with this standard.
  • In August 2021, we disposed of all our old internal combustion engine forklift trucks and invested in all new lithium battery operated types.
  • Where possible, we encourage our workforce to travel to work by bicycle or public transport. We realise this is not always possible or practical but do encourage car-sharing in those cases.
  • During 2020 and 2021 we have completed a major programme of replacing all the old tungsten and sodium low-bay lighting in the factory / warehouse areas, as well as the offices, with energy efficient LED lighting of various types. This has had a noticeable effect on energy use.
  • We eliminated the use of travelling sales representatives several years ago, and only send survey and advisory staff to the customer site where the nature of the job is very complex. In most cases we can obtain the information necessary to manufacture our products by asking the customer the right questions by email / phone etc.

Future initiatives under review:

  • Switch to hybrid / electric vehicles when technology allows better battery charge durations than are currently available for commercial vehicles.
  • Remove factory gas heating and install new heat pump / recovery system which works in conjunction with the dust / wood waste extraction system.
  • Mount solar panels on the factory and office roofs, which are ideally aligned to do so.
  • Investigate use of wind turbine.
  • During COVID lockdown, several members of staff not directly involved in production were able to successfully work from home for periods of time. Whilst not ideal for a manufacturing business, there are perhaps opportunities for this to happen on a limited basis moving forward.
Hand holding a new seedling