Sustainability enhancements at one of its sites have underlined RPC Group’s commitment to minimising the carbon footprint of its manufacturing operations. The two-year energy optimisation project undertaken at RPC Bebo Bouxwiller has seen the facility reduce its environmental impact by significantly lowering energy and water consumption.

The site has achieved reductions of 25,000m3 in water, and 830,000 KWh in electricity per year. These have been achieved by replacing cooling towers with closed-circuit heat exchanger cooling systems; replacing lighting in the warehouse and production areas with low-energy LED systems; and installing new energy control systems, together with low-energy compressors, that improve the efficiency of compressed air.

“The changes we have made as part of our continuous improvement plan are good for the planet and good for our immediate environment,” says Nicholas Dal Degan, General Manager of RPC Bebo Bouxwiller. “To put the figures into context, we are now saving, annually, the equivalent energy used by 120 French people, and the equivalent water consumed by a village of 300.”

An additional benefit of these initiatives is that the factory has now become a more comfortable place in which to work. This is due to the circulation of chilled water in summer and the recovery of waste heat from the compressors in winter, which allow the heat exchangers to control the ambient air in the production area. Furthermore, the influx of modern equipment has led to a reduction in noise emissions.

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Michael Stegeman, CEO of RPC Bebo, comments: “I wish to congratulate RPC Bebo Bouxwiller on the outstanding energy optimisations it has implemented.

“These improvements and enhancements ideally complement the low carbon impact of the plastic products we manufacture, and together they underline our ongoing commitment to delivering sustainable packaging solutions for our customers. This also includes the lightweighting of products so they contain less plastic, and the incorporation of recycled materials, both of which are achieved with no compromise to performance.”