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Conwed posts major gains in its sustainability goals

18 Mar '16

3 min read

In its latest global sustainability report, Conwed, a manufacturer of plastic netting said it has posted major gains in its sustainability goals.

Since 2009, Conwed has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 13 per cent, water consumption by 24 per cent, cubic yards of waste by 79 per cent and total process resin waste by 19 per cent.

Headquartered in Minnesota, with manufacturing sites in the US and Belgium, Conwed added that it has implemented best practices at all of its locations.

These were implemented with the objective of increasing efficiency in their day to day operations and creating netting solutions that require less material and generate less waste.

Conwed made a conscious review of all its operations in 2009 and set new sustainability goals in four major areas: carbon footprint, water consumption, cubic yards of waste and total process resin waste generated.

“We believed we needed to focus on areas we could directly impact at each of our manufacturing locations,” said Ivan Soltero, strategic marketing manager at Conwed.

“Improving our production efficiency while continuously reducing our expenses and waste was a natural way to impact our sustainability record,” Soltero informed.

Conwed performs ongoing water usage audits, preventive maintenance and identification of potential improvement opportunities in collaboration with manufacturing and operations teams at each location.

According to Conwed, the ultimate goal is to reduce water consumption in all of their plants until the most optimal level is achieved.

The biggest impact of this sustainability program has been controlling material waste by improving manufacturing processes and internally reusing as much resin as possible to drive down waste costs.

Furthermore, Conwed invested in equipment and separation processes to facilitate identification, collection and recycling of materials that are consequently sent to recycling outlets.

“Embracing a sustainability program has had a direct impact on our business because we are focused on finding ways to do things better, more efficiently, with the least amount of waste,” Soltero stated.

“That surely impacts our financial performance, but it also reassures our customers that we are driven to manufacture the best plastic netting with the least amount of material and waste,” Soltero observed.

Conwed not only relied on its own internal resources and expertise for its sustainability efforts, but also partnered and collaborated with suppliers and customers, by benchmarking best practices to improve operations. (AR)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India