Autex has always taken our environmental responsibilities as a manufacturer very seriously. We’re committed to applying sustainable practices across all aspects of our business, from manufacturing processes to safe, healthy working conditions for our staff. Autex is always working to build on our achievements and improve our environmental performance, in areas from energy efficiency and recycling to third-party product certification.
Environmental management system
Autex has an environmental management system (EMS) in place to monitor and reduce the impact of our business on the environment. Under this system we set ourselves challenging environmental targets and undertake annual reviews to ensure our environmental performance is always improving.
Our Australian operation has already achieved Environmental Management Standard ISO14001 accreditation and our New Zealand operation is also targeting ISO14001 certification for the near future.
Energy efficiency and waste reduction
Autex aims to operate using the most energy-efficient processes possible and we are continuing to set reduced energy consumption targets. We use recycled and recyclable raw materials in our product manufacture wherever we can and are working to further increase the recycled material content of our products.
We are also targeting a zero-waste-to-landfill policy across all our manufacturing operations. Autex insulation is already zero waste and we are presently targeting zero waste across all manufacturing divisions.
Responsible products and product responsibility
Autex is actively seeking opportunities to implement full life cycle product stewardship schemes, to ensure that all our products will eventually be recycled by ourselves or others. We are currently working to develop a framework for extended producer responsibility (EPR) of our products, which will include take-back schemes for many product groups.
Autex is also working to achieve third-party environmental certification for as many of our products as possible. More and more of our products are now carrying eco-labels, such as our Environmental Choice New Zealand-accredited GreenStuf® insulation products.
Transparency and green procurement
As part of our green procurement policy, Autex actively seeks and supports suppliers who also have internationally recognised environmental and quality systems in place.
Autex strives to ensure transparency for all our product performance and environmental manufacturing processes. We aim to openly communicate our policies and practices to our customers, business partners and any other interested parties.
Internal environmental culture
Our environmental management system is part of the culture at Autex. Our staff are highly committed to helping achieve our environmental goals and striving for continuous improvement in this area.
We provide ongoing staff education and training to continue to drive awareness and best environmental practice at all levels of our organisation.