Housing in Southern Africa September 2015

Doors, Windows, Floors & Walls

Environmental initiatives lower business costs

Z arrebini said: “Therewill always be a trade-off between invest- ing in growth and investing in sustainability. Pursuing growth may seem like the more glamorous busi- ness option but, in my experience, making provision for green projects reaps substantial rewards in the longer term.” Cleaner manufacturing processes, sourcing environment-friendly and recycled raw materials, recycling for profit, and affiliation to international quality and environmental standards all play a role in Zarrebini’s sustain- able business strategy. He said that cleaner, greener manufacturing often involved the purchase of costly new equipment and machinery but that this was almost always accompanied by greater efficiency and productivity as well as a better product, leading to greater demand. The results speak for themselves. Van Dyck Carpets is growing itsmarket share year on year and theMathe Group has quadrupled the number of tyres it has recycled. Capital expenditure of R80million at Van Dyck Carpets over the last few years – includes the installation of the largest state-of-the-art fibre extrusion line in the country. The company was awarded Carbon Trust Standard cer- tification in May this year – the only South African manufacturer to have achieved this international mark of excellence for reducing carbon emis- sions. “The Carbon Trust Standard ac- creditation provides independent assurance from a globally respected organisation that Van Dyck Carpets is successfully measuring, managing and reducing carbon emissions every year,” Zarrebini said. “Our commitment to energy ef- ficiency is adding momentum to the ongoing national drive to address South Africa’s energy challenge and help diminish the harmful effects of climate change.” Elaborating on his proactive sus- tainable development stance, Zarre- bini said: ‘When the government tables the Carbon Tax Bill next year and introduces a carbon tax, organ- isations will have to comply with regulations. It is likely that companies will have to account for greenhouse gas emissions and suppliers’ per- formances. It will become unafford- able and unwise not to embrace the

Dr Mehran Zarrebini

Investing in environmental programmes does not raise business costs, it reduces them, according to Dr Mehran Zarrebini, Head of British- based PFE International and holding company of Van Dyck Carpets.

big global corporations, in addition to its current ISO 9001 quality and ISO 14001 environmental manage- ment accreditations. ■

intent of the Act.” Van Dyck Carpets plans to implement the ISO 150001 energy management system later this year, usually undertaken only by

September 2015