We’re sustainable in every way
We’re building IMI into a genuine leader in world engineering. Although often unseen, many of our products are specifically engineered to improve the environment. They help our customers operate safely, cleanly, and efficiently.
But we’re also committed to making sure that the way we make our products doesn’t have a negative impact on the environment. We seek the most sustainable ways of working at every stage, in each of the 20 countries we operate in and we are committed to reducing energy, water, pollution, waste and resource use at our facilities.
We’re always thinking about the long-term. Meeting the challenges we face today, anticipating the ones we’ll face in the future, and regularly monitoring our progress and performance along the way.
Becoming energy efficient
One of the key ways we’re acting and thinking sustainably is by focusing on improving energy efficiency across our whole business. Because being efficient means we can reduce our environmental impact and develop clever, cost-effective production processes.
We’ve certified several of our large manufacturing facilities to the international standard for Energy Management ISO 50001, which provides frameworks for developing, implementing and measuring efficiency policies.
In 2019 we commissioned independent energy assessment surveys across our major European operations. Recommendations are being evaluated and actioned on a site-by-site basis and progress will be regularly monitored, with best practices being shared across the Group.
Keeping our impact low
We think it’s important for every business to minimise their carbon footprint. So, we’ve set ourselves the goal of reducing our CO2 emissions and CO2e intensity year-on-year. Since 2015, on a like for like basis, we’ve reduced our CO2 emissions by over 5%. And we’re taking steps to keep reducing our carbon emissions.
That means investing in our operations and fostering a culture of improvement. And it means actively supporting the Carbon Disclosure Project (“CDP”) climate change initiative by submitting annual CDP reports which cover our risk management approach to climate change and our emissions performance. We also support the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) regarding the disclosure of information related to the risks and opportunities presented by climate change.
Sustainability in action
We’ve taken steps to reduce waste and act sustainably across our business. Here are some examples.
Reducing plastic use
At our IMI Precision site in Fradley, UK actuators are now being packaged in recyclable cardboard tubes instead of bubble wrap. The tubes offer better protection for the actuators in transit and reduce the use of plastic.
Cutting down on scrap
We updated the design of our STAD manual balancing valve, which delivers accurate systems balancing across a range of heating and cooling systems. The resulting, more compact design has significantly reduced our scrap rate.
Using fewer resources
The team at our plant in Ljung, Sweden worked out how to reduce the oil consumption of a machine used to manufacture TA valves – saving costs and cutting our impact. It took less than two years (and a lot of careful maintenance and monitoring) but the machine’s oil usage has now dropped by an incredible 40%.
Building for the future
Our recently constructed IMI Precision site in India was built with sustainability in mind. The facility features energy efficient and motion controlled lighting, new paper packaging equipment to remove the use of plastics, and the installation of a rainwater harvesting system to reduce the volume of mains water needed by the facility.