LOUGHBOROUGH: British Gypsum's Robertsbridge works in East Sussex has been shortlisted for a business commitment to the environment award.

The BCE Environmental Leadership Awards recognise companies that demonstrate their commitment to environmental excellence, innovation and leadership.

 

Robertsbridge works has been shortlisted for a project which has been cited by The Environment Agency as a 'success story' and which developed a solution for dealing with leachate - a byproduct of former landfill sites.

The two year project saw British Gypsum develop a way to use leachate in the manufacturing process - something which it claims no other plasterboard manufacturer has been able to achieve.

This required the installation of pipework, pumps and storage tanks to transfer leachate into the manufacturing process as well as the creation of a new product development process to technically evaluate products made using leachate.

As a result of the project, British Gypsum reduced off-site waste disposal, lowered levels of hydrogen sulphide in ground and surface waters on site, reduced the manufacturing plant's equivalent water consumption by 2000 tonnes a year and delivered cost savings of £118 000.

 

The BCE Environmental Leadership Awards final will be held on Wednesday 15 June at the Lincoln Centre in London.