ScotAsh - Joint Winner - "Environmental Innovation Award" Green Business Fife Awards 2009
Very few businesses can claim that the more products they sell, the greater the environmental benefits they deliver. It sounds like the ideal green business proposition and ScotAsh in Kincardine-on-Forth is proof that it can be done.
The company is a joint venture between Scottish Power and Lafarge Cement, the UK's largest cement manufacturer, and celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. Until 1999, Scotland's coal fired power stations produced up to 1million tonnes of coal ash annually and the majority of this was disposed of in lagoons, with environmental and financial implications. During the late 1990s the two companies discussed how a joint venture might work to reduce the costs of landfill and other possible taxes; how to reduce CO2 emissions; improve recycling of materials and demonstrate long-term sustainability. ScotAsh became that joint venture.
Product Innovation
ScotAsh takes all the ash output from Scottish Power and converts it into cements, grouts and environmental binders. These new products have lower carbon burden than conventional materials and relieve the previous method of disposal in lagoons to create new land along stretches of foreshore. With the corporate aim of achieving 100% beneficial re- use of Scottish Power's ash output, the company is already achieving around 90%, compared to a national average of 33%.
The company has developed new separation techniques to achieve higher grade ash in order to move into higher value markets and collaborates with several universities and expert industry partners to develop new products and solutions for particular challenges. For example, such R&D has resulted in Superpozz - a superfine concrete enhancer which fills gaps in the concrete's structure providing additional strength and durability. Other binders can be used to stabilise contaminated soils and sludges and to treat road excavation planings, allowing them to be reused.
Sales and Savings
In the past six years, ScotAsh has sold 4.3 million tonnes of products. In 2007, the company achieved record sales, breaking through the 1 million tonne barrier for the first time and during 2008, despite the dramatic downturn in the construction markets, sales showed only a slight drop. While turnover has increased in the past few years by about a third, profits before depreciation have grown by about 50%.
The 4.3 million tonnes of product sold has saved the equivalent amount of natural aggregates and avoided the need to landfill nearly 4 million tonnes of ash. During the same time, there has been a saving of more than 200,000 tonnes of CO2 by displacing carbon intensive Portland cement and natural aggregates.
In the past five years, ScotAsh has saved Scottish Power landfill tax costs of around £1.4million.
Specific projects highlight the combination of good business and sustainable practices. ScotAsh worked with Marshalls to reduce with amount of embodied carbon in their flag and kerbstones by 31% (ratified by the Carbon Trust). The City of
Edinburgh and ScotAsh worked together to use the company's hydraulic and pozzolanic binders to treat road excavation planning so that they can be reused in road repairs, saving high grade stone, reducing landfill and reducing vehicle movements.
The company is increasing being approached to help with high profile projects such as the new Clackmannanshire Bridge, Whitelee Windfarm and the Glendoe Hydro-electric project. ScotAsh is also involved with the National Indoor Sports Arena and the Chris Hoy Velodrome for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. The use of ScotAsh products in the groundworks for these projects will save approximately 52,000 tonnes of primary aggregates and around 2,400 tonnes of CO2. By using ash-based products instead of sand, 10,000 tonnes less material can be used, saving approximately 500 lorry movements.
Within the company, there is an equally strong commitment to environmental savings and good practice. Using untreated "grey" water from a borehole saves around 12,000m3 of townswater annually. A monitoring programme discovered a leak, which had caused a rise in consumption during 2007 and a replacement water tank solved the problem. Overall the company has reduced energy consumption per tonne of product by 50% since 2003 and waste has dropped from 301tonnes to nine tonnes between 2003 and 2007.
Corporate Responsibility
With the sustainability ethos driving the development and direction of the company from the start, it is no surprise that ScotAsh has a robust and impressive Corporate Responsibility report card. The company is committed to looking after and developing its staff through the Investors in People scheme, which last year described leadership at ScotAsh as "outstanding" and the employees as "inspirational". ScotAsh makes significant contributions to the community, including amongst many others, the Children's Hospice Association Scotland and the community police officers through the Scottish Police College.
Its overall success as a sustainable, successful commercial organisation, with a strong commitment to its staff and the community has been recognised with a raft of awards, ranging from the Queen's Award to Vibes to Green Business Fife and many more in between!