The Henderson Group - Environmental Improvement

Henderson’s aim is to be the best supplier of food and associated products in its chosen market. The organisation realised that its waste management and energy consumption policies could help it achieve this overall aim by providing significant cost savings.

What they did

The Henderson Group implemented a wide variety of procedures in order to achieve the scale of effect they desired.

The first step was to establish Environmental Teams at each of its three distribution centres. Members of the team were tasked with the responsibility of ensuring waste and energy targets were met. Another important step was to streamline business processes to combine Wholesale and Foodservice cold storage operations into one with the aim of reducing energy consumption. Energy efficient motion / daylight sensor lighting was installed at the main warehouse as were humidity monitors at Foodservice cold storage operation which reduce the running time of humidity fans and therefore further reduce the energy consumption levels.

Other measures that The Henderson Group have introduced include the Introduction of Hybrid cars onto the company car choice list to improve the carbon footprint of the car fleet and the recycling of all paper waste.

Staff involvement is critical in the effective implementation of Henderson’s waste management and energy consumption policies so they have installed a number of measures to harness the knowledge and enthusiasm of its employees. The Environmental team manage and police the day to day issues within their area and the members are used as a point of contact for any ideas or concerns that the local staff members may have. Staff members are communicated to on environmental matters via their line managers, company intranet, “Staff Matters” quarterly magazine and environmental notice boards.

Impact

Annual decrease in the amount of waste sent to landfill from the main distribution centre from 320.57 tonnes in 2002, to 222.55 tonnes in 2007.
All three distribution centres showed a reduction in energy consumption in 2007 compared to 2006, ranging from 7% to 25%. A total of 918,000 kwh of electricity was saved
Achieved 1st quintile status at Arena Network Awards 2007.

Environmental Improvement Award Finalists