Industry News

Hexstone, the UK’s largest supplier in the fastener and fixing market, has been awarded ISO 14001:2015 accreditation for its environmental management system.

The accreditation joins the Group’s current ISO 9001:2015 quality management credentials and covers all trading divisions: Owlett-Jaton, Stainless Threaded Fasteners (STF), Icon Fasteners and Righton Fasteners.

The ISO 14001 environmental management system will continually monitor and improve Hexstone’s environmental performance, from sourcing to supply, in order to ensure best industrial practice and compliance with all relevant legislation.

Ian Doherty, Hexstone’s CEO, comments: “We are delighted to be awarded the ISO 14001 accreditation, which is recognised not just in the UK, but in the EU, and across the world. We are also the first and only wholesaler in our industry in the UK to achieve this status. Our teams have worked very hard in order to receive this accreditation.”

Ian continues: “We recognised at an early stage the advantages of certification. We live in a global society, which is increasingly concerned with the environmental impact caused by industry, and ISO 14001 certification demonstrates that we take this seriously, and actively want to improve. This gives our customers peace of mind that we go above and beyond with regards to sourcing and supplying responsibly.”

“Many companies/manufacturers now require their supply chain to have specific environmental management plans; achieving the 14001 accreditation enables us to demonstrate to our customers Hexstone’s commitment to reducing its environmental impact. It shows our customers that we are a responsible company, which increases credibility, and helps towards winning new customers.”

Reducing waste and energy is primarily beneficial to the environment, but will also provide additional benefits to Hexstone in improved efficiencies and reduced operational costs.

In just the last twelve months Hexstone has:

• Removed over 15,000 single use plastic bags a year, which would have previously gone to landfill.
• Seen an uptake in customers reusing its packaging, through increasing the gauge of the cardboard used for sending goods out, thus extending the use, and saving on production energy.
• Reduced its landfill waste figure down to just 0.08%.
• Moved away from conventional vinyl tape; this means that 90% of card waste is now recyclable and 590,000m of plastic tape is now being replaced with paper tape.
• Ensured that all fillers and packers used in their packaging are 100% recyclable.
• Ensured all pallet/wood and metal waste is recycled.
• Recently converted to LED lighting – saving over 240 tonnes of CO2 a year.
• Promoted hybrid vehicles for company car users and installed energy efficient electric car chargers.
• Ensured all waste electrical items are donated to charity for component recycling.

www.hexstone.co.uk