Since 2009 Norris Industries has been working and investing on making the company more sustainable and environmentally friendly. We joined the Sustainability Advantage Program, which is a NSW Government program designed to help companies identify areas that they can improve on areas of consumption, such as energy, water, waste, fuel.
Some of the areas we have improved since 2008 include:
Norris installed two 25,000L water tanks, the first in late-2008 and the second in mid-2009. Since then Norris machines are tested using tank water, which has reduced our water consumption from around 510kL in 2008 to 117kL at the end of 2010. This represents a 77% reduction on mains water consumption.
Norris has also invested heavily in solar technology. During November 2009, 54 panels were installed, with a further 66 panels added in November 2011. All up, these 120 panels enable 22.5kw/h to be produced per day.
We now have over 388 panels and currently average an output of 340kw/h per day.
Since having this system on line, Norris has eliminated an average of 130kg of CO2 per day generating an average 137kw’s per day – equal to 8.5 average households. In conjunction with negotiating a better rate, our power costs have dropped by over 57%.
Norris environmental policies have instigated changes to production processes. Replacement of power hungry mercury vapour lights to more efficient lighting, for example, is an intiative that produces around 300% more light at 50% of the cost. Similar changes are also being made in our office and include more efficient lighting, heating and cooling.
Norris will continue pursuing improvements to its factory, machines and processes to reduce our carbon foot print and make them as environmentally friendly as possible.