Sector:  Chemicals
No.of Employees: 135
Region: North West 

Summary
Evans Vanodine International Plc is a family owned manufacturer of janitorial, institutional and agricultural hygiene chemicals. By reassessing its operation and 'greening its cleaning,' Evans Vanodine has saved money and vital environmental resources.

Background
Evans Vanodine was established in 1919 in Salford by Chemist, William Charles Evans, and initially manufactured soap, which was sold to local industry in the North West of England. The company stayed in the North West relocating to Eccles in the 1940s, and then finally settling in a modern 100,000 square foot factory on a five acre site in Preston. These days, the company has customers in 60 countries, and a turnover of £16.5 million. 

How they address corporate responsibility

• Improved efficiency cleaning containers. A new system reuses water when cleaning the pumps which saves 1,100,000 litres of water per year.
• Reduced water use in vessel cleaning. A new system uses a rotating spray head, and the heat and time of the cleaning required can be altered depending on the viscosity of the raw material. This saves 1,772,700 litres of water per year, improves energy efficiency and saves on staff time. This is still a work in progress, and Evans Vanodine believes there is potential to save another 100,500 litres annually.
• Better use of resources. In order to save on operating time the company was using 182.96m³ of deionised water per week for processes that only require normal water. This was inefficient from both a cost and environmental perspective. Evans Vanodine has now fitted a water system that will fill tanks as quickly as the deioniser system. This has reduced deionised water use by 90m³ per week, without increasing the time required to conduct the process.  This involved an initial outlay of £17,000, but is expected to improve productivity which has saved the company £50,000.
• Increasing staff control. Washing of vessels used in the manufacturing process uses large quantities of water. Previously operators were required to enter wash times in minutes, and visually check if vessels were clean. The company has reprogrammed wash times so operators can enter times in seconds rather than minutes. Every second of reduced time saves four litres of water. This practice has improved water efficiency and reduced effluent by 5,828,507 litres per year, even though production is continually rising.
• Environmental task force. A group of employees from different departments work together to improve the companies environmental performance.

Business Benefits

• The bottom line.  Changes in water and waste management have saved Evans Vanodine International £39,000.
• Enhanced company profile. The company fought off the competition to win the Best Environmental Practice Award for small to medium companies in the Northwest Business Environment Awards 2006.
• Marketing edge.  Evans Vanodine is planning an advertising campaign that will focus on its corporate social responsibility record and is expecting to attract new customers.
• Greener cleaning. Reducing water usage and waste has improved the company's ecological impact, and helped it comply with ISO 14001 and IPPC applications.