The Leeds-based packaging manufacturer LVF Packaging recently made new investments into solar power at the company’s headquarters.
Having previously invested in the firm’s first solar power panels nearly a decade ago, LVF Packaging has now installed an additional 670 new solar panels at the Leeds facility. The latest investment brings the total amount invested in solar power by LVF Packaging up to £300,000.
LVF Packaging’s Solar Panels
The additional solar panels will now allow LVF Packaging to generate nearly 300,000 kilowatts of energy during the peak period, which will add up to 185 megawatt hours per year.
The latest installation means the company is able to generate all of the electricity it needs to operate on a 24/7 basis on-site.
Green Packaging Manufacturers
The Business Development Director of LVF Packaging, Daniel Coates, explained that the company first installed solar panels back in 2014 as part of LVF Packaging’s strategy to become a truly sustainable business.
Coates added: “Back then it didn’t seem possible that solar would eventually generate enough power to cover all the electricity costs for a manufacturing project the size of ours. But now, less than ten years down the line, we are in the position where we are not only doing that but have significant scope for even more.
“Like a lot of other packaging manufacturers, we’ve been working extremely seriously on the green side of our business for many years. We’ve recycled 100 per cent of the plastic waste produced during the manufacturing process since 2020; we also recycle all our cardboard waste and are one of the few packaging companies able to legitimately claim that all of our products are fully recyclable.”
UK Packaging Industry Waste Law Reform
LVF Packaging finds themselves significantly ahead of the game in the UK, with the government earlier this year announcing there would be reforms covering the packaging industry’s waste.
There is also the Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (pEPR) which is due to come into force in 2024. This reform puts the responsibility for the costs of dealing with packaging waste from household packaging onto the packaging firms themselves.
Environment Minister Rebecca Pow said: “We need to stem the flow of packaging which goes unrecycled and instead is lost forever to landfill and incineration. As set out in our Environmental Improvement Plan, these reforms will encourage businesses to increase their use of recyclable materials, shifting costs away from the taxpayer and supporting our work to protect the environment from the scourge of waste.”
The government has already introduced a Plastic Packaging Tax along with a ban on microbeads in rinse-off personal care products, as well as restrictions on the supply of single-use plastic straws, drink stirrers and cotton buds. A single-use plastic carrier bag charge also caused sales of this product to drop by nearly 98% in the main supermarkets.
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