There are many ways to help workshops go green

Going ‘green’ in a workshop is always a Team effort, but exploring lubricants transitioning from conventional raw materials to non-toxic materials is one of the hardest areas a garage must consider. Here, Nigel Bottom, Witham’s MD lays out his own philosophy to workshops going green…

Workshops and garages traditionally use chemicals, and fossil based products like engine oil which are essential to their business. These are not usually environmentally friendly products but there are ways you can identify and promote a greener culture by working a little smarter.

When looking at ‘green’ credentials you have to look at the full package. Not only the more common elements of sustainability but also right back to your supply chain and the products and services you operate within.

Energy

Review the efficiencies of lighting, heating, ventilation, cooling systems, insulation opportunities, water use and pollution control. Ideas include:

• Installing solar panels on workshop roofs and depots – they often cover a wide surface area and can help generate new power to heat and light buildings and machinery and equipment.
• Harvest rain water from the roofs and collect in IBC containers. Use the water to wash and clean vehicles and other equipment throughout the year. Thousands of litres of water can be saved each year.
• Install PIR lighting so no lights are on unless they need to be.

Products

The choice of lubricants that a workshop uses are wide and varied but can you ensure that suppliers offer the following to help you achieve your own greener goals:

• Biodegradable alternatives – such as Prolan Lubricants – the unique and awarding winning range of corrosion busting, rust prohibiting multi-purpose lubricants which uses sheep’s lanolin as the strongest, natural lubricant nature can supply. This has been captured and blended to produce a range of 5 viscosity oils, for light work like chain and maintenance oils to restoration rust preventers and anti-seize greases, which are not only biodegradable but non toxic food and water safe.
• Other alternatives such as biodegradable chain oils and hydraulic and tipping oils are extremely popular and give comparable performance to more traditional mineral counterparts.
• Lowering CO2 emissions and improving fuel economy is high on the agenda of all car and fleet owners. Swapping lubricants to a fuel-efficient approved alternative can save more than 1.5 – 2.5% fuel saving if carried out correctly. Lower viscosity lubricant sales are on the rise and engine oil can make a real difference to emissions and carbon impact.

Packaging

Purchasing not only fully recyclable packaging, but container plastic packing from some suppliers like Witham are now made from at least 30% recycled materials.

• Choose a lubricant supplier that offers recyclable or recycled packaging
• Recycling schemes are also available for bulk 200 litre barrels
• Partner with local recycling and wase suppliers – many schemes are available nationwide.

Bulk storage tanks

Workshops and garages tend to use a lot of the same lubricant products and can have piles of used plastic containers lying around the place. Consider installing bulk storage tanks. Your lubricant supplier can advise on the best way to install the tanks.

Lubricants are filled up in the colour coded tanks as required, and the tanks have sight gauges, taps or pumps and come labelled with the different product names and their application. Simple, clean and easy to use, these tanks help keep your working space ship-shape, avoid spills from containers, helps avoid important oil contamination and helps the environment by using less packaging. They also provide important health & safety requirements for lubricant storage. Using bulk storage tanks across all the workshops and garages in the UK saves thousands and thousands of plastic and metal containers being sent to landfill and saves on waste collection costs and administration.

New technology

Use a supplier where greener technologies and processes are at the fore and how lubricants are manufactured is changing – this can alone be one of the most beneficial of savings to a workshop environment. Using a unique new blending process, Witham Group has developed a new way to manufacture lubricants using Ultrasound. “Blendtek as the new process is called, removes the need for base oils and product formulas to be heated up for long periods of time using tradition gas energy. Instead, thousands of tonnes of high quality workshop oils using no heat and no agitation can be made using solar panels and a simple 13amp plug, saving time, energy and drastically reducing the carbon footprint.

Witham are now the first lubricant blending company certainly in the UK (possibly Europe and the world) to manufacture its lubricants in a 100.0% carbon neutral way. Basic Principles of Ultrasound is using high-speed micro-cinematographic sequence of laser-induced cavitation’s near to a solid surface. In short, and to put figures to it …. using a traditional blending process (similar to our old plant) to produce 10,000 litre) using heat to blend and mix generated from gas burners and / or steam from a boiler and standard agitation (paddles) created a carbon footprint of 1962 KW per blend.

Nigel added “Using the Blendtek Solutions system we manufacture 10,000 litres of the high-quality workshop lubricating oil using no heat and no agitation and more importantly we only create a carbon footprint of 6 KW per blend.

Rather than companies looking to “offset” their carbon usage – this concept stops the use of high levels of energy in the first place.

The desire to ‘go green’ and the rewards being given by government to support are encouraging.

Ultimately, if everyone looked at their business to see how environmental improvements can be easily made within their business, from what they buy and from who, workshops and garages could collectively make a huge success of going green.

Put another way, to ask everyone to build a huge brick wall would be daunting to some and impossible for others. However, ask everyone to simply place one brick, one at a time themselves and encourage their friends to do the same the wall would build itself.”

For more information about how Witham Group  can help you become more sustainable in your workshop – please visit our website here.