Investing in a Greener Future

Here at Midland Lead we are committed to reducing our carbon footprint year-on-year and are working on some exciting plans for 2023. These follow the significant changes that were implemented at our facilities in South Derbyshire including the installation of 569 solar panels.

Independent energy consultants Inspired Energy created a baseline survey of our carbon footprint in 2021, and recently completed a Streamlined Energy & Carbon Report for 2022. The report summarises our energy usage, associated emissions, energy efficiency actions and energy performance under the government policy Streamlined Energy & Carbon Reporting (SECR), as implemented by the Companies (Directors’ Report) and Limited Liability Partnerships (Energy and Carbon Report) Regulations 2018.

The report clearly highlighted the positive impact that our capital investments have already had with a reduction in our carbon footprint of 11.35% compared to the previous year.
We are encouraged by the findings that will help us to achieve our ambitious plans to eventually operate at net zero.

Claire Markham, Business development Manager of Inspired Energy added: “Midland Lead has a clear vision to reduce their carbon footprint and the results so far have been very positive. Since installing the solar panels and replacing some of their forklift truck fleet with electric vehicles, the impact it has had has been significant and is a pathway to making further reductions in using greener energy throughout the business.”

Over the next five years we will be investing in technology to reduce our carbon footprint and provide more sustainable processes throughout the business. Mark Winchester, Financial Controller at Midland Lead, commented: “We are delighted with our progress so far and continue to work hard to improve our energy efficiency, the figures in this report speak for themselves.
 
“This initial one-year review demonstrates the impact we have made so far and shows we are moving in the right direction. There are several new projects that we are looking to introduce this year including adding additional solar panels to more of our buildings and a feasibility report into introducing a solar farm onto the site.
 
“We are also working closely with Cambridge University to help us gather data about current energy usage. The University will be monitoring equipment on site using a clamp meter that will collect data to establish how much energy they use and how we can potentially reduce this. This project is in its early stages and over several months the information will provide us with details of further energy efficiencies we can make. Cambridge University will also use this data to create a dashboard that can easily interpret the findings that can also benefit other businesses.”

During 2022 the following investments were made to introduce greener energy and more sustainable practices:

• Solar Panels: In November 2022, we invested £190,000 for the installation of solar panels that will provide energy savings of 210,000 kWh per year.
• Electric Forklift Trucks: We introduced seven electric trucks, to replace our fleet of LPG and diesel-fuelled trucks.
• LED Lighting Upgrades: Lighting has been replaced with the latest energy-efficient LEDs and PIR’s, with estimated energy savings of 45,800 kWh per year.
• Process Efficiency: Lead refining kettles and DM are now operated continuously over 48 hours instead of switching kettles on and off every day, to save energy by reducing the need to reheat the lead.

The following are measures that have been prioritised for implementation in 2023:

•  Sub-Metering Monitoring: To help us manage and reduce our energy consumption.
• Replacing Equipment: Air-conditioning units and transformers will be replaced with energy-efficient models.
• Behavioural Change: We will continue to engage with employees, to facilitate a change in behaviour around energy saving and efficiency, sharing our plans and ambitions for the future.
• Kettle Improvements: Review the insulation of our kettles and the possibility of generating heat recovery.
• Biomass Investigation: Investigate the possibility of using biomass to power our sites.
• Additional Solar Energy: We will undertake a feasibility study around creating a solar farm on site, in addition to more solar panels on our existing buildings.
• Reduce phantom load: Identify equipment that uses unnecessary energy.

Here at Midland Lead we have taken many steps over the years to manage and reduce our energy consumption, and we recognise that there are still many more opportunities to make a positive impact. We also speak with many businesses that also strive towards investing in renewable energy sources and believe that every organisation, especially within manufacturing, should be aware of the impact they have on the environment.

Our focus remains on reducing our carbon footprint and we are always looking into new and innovative ways to reduce our energy consumption.