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15
CONSTRUCTION WORLD
JUNE
2016
ENVIRONMENTAL
approach to business
Rubber crumb is an end product
that previously had little useful
application, but PFE International
CEO and Van Dyck Carpets director
Dr Mehran Zarrebini says the requirement
on businesses to develop sustainable prod-
ucts was a key challenge facing industry in
the 21
st
century.
Not adopting environmental practices
in the short-term would translate into the
world’s demise. Companies ignoring that
reality were forgetting the bigger picture,
specifically environmental sustainability.
The group produces broadloom carpets,
carpet tiles, area rugs, polypropylene staple
fibre, bulk continuous filament yarn, artificial
hair, polypropylene continuous filament
yarn, polypropylene tape, master batches,
concrete fibre and rubber crumb. A number
of other products derived from rubber crumb
are manufactured by the group which include
acoustic underlays and acoustic cradles.
Critical in tackling global environmental
issues was viewing compliance as an oppor-
tunity to the lowest environmental standards
for as long as possible.
“It is economically and consciously
sound to comply with the most stringent
rules before they are enforced. This yields
substantial first-mover advantages in terms of
fostering innovation,” Zarrebini said.
Thereafter came instigating sustain-
able value chains, effectively reducing the
consumption of non-renewable resources to
boost efficiency.
“In an increasingly environmentally
aware society, consumers prefer eco-friendly
offerings and are prepared to pay the
premiums to secure them, offering businesses
a competitive advantage in redesigning
existing products or developing new ones,”
he said.
However, creating a sustainable business
model did not merely entail rethinking
customer value propositions, but devel-
oping innovative ways for building revenue
and delivering services in tandem with
other companies.
Within Van Dyck this meant supplying
the UK flooring industry with an acoustic
underlay manufactured from rubber crumb as
a result of the recycling from sister company
Mathe Group. Mathe recycles truck tyres,
breaking down the rubber to crumb and
recycling the steel and Van Dyck converts the
crumb into acoustic underlays used under
soft and resilient flooring and acoustic cradles
used in the built environment to eliminate
variations in the structural floor surface and
to accommodate services. Both products
effectively reduce noise while being environ-
mentally beneficial.
Van Dyck acquired a 49% stake in the
Mathe Group in 2014 to secure a raw material
supply and diversify its supply chain. Zarre-
bini said currently South Africa dumps
10 million tyres annually of which 48%
are truck tyres, prompting the USD1,5-mil-
lion (R20-million) investment into a newly
commissioned factory that began operations
in March 2016.
Construction of the UK Olympic Village
used 1,5 million acoustic cradles produced
from the rubber crumb, effectively filling
more than seven export containers.
Sister company Envirobuild produces
rubber paving blocks and tiles used exten-
sively in children’s playgrounds and old-age
complexes to minimise injuries following falls.
In 2015 Van Dyck recycled approximately
40 000 truck tyres. This would increase to
150 000 with the new plant and the company
was negotiating to divert the recycled steel to
either a Germiston-based foundry or exported
to South Korea for use in the shipbuilding
industry. Zarrebini said leadership must be
shown from company directors in order to be
effective in changing a company’s envi-
ronmental approach and developing a low
carbon economy.
The current economic system had placed
substantial pressure on the planet while
only catering to the demands of 25% of its
inhabitants. “Companies have to develop
innovative solutions, but that will only
happen when executives recognise the
simple truth that sustainability equals innova-
tion,” Zarrebini said.
PFE International’s environmental journey
began reactively with its ISO 9001 accredita-
tion. Thereafter the group proactively secured
its ISO 14001 and ISO 14064 accreditations.
Last year Van Dyck Carpets became the first
African organisation to achieve the Carbon
Trust Standard for Carbon, an international
mark of excellence recognising success in
reducing carbon emissions.
The accreditation acknowledges organi-
sations that take a best practice approach to
measuring and managing their greenhouse
gas emissions and achieving real reductions
year-on-year. The company was now imple-
menting the ISO 50001 accreditation.
Zarrebini said their initiatives had
resulted in a 2,8% reduction in direct costs
applied to company facilities and vehicles;
30% reduction in electricity and steam
purchased and 12,2% reduction in environ-
mental elements. This included purchased
goods and services, capital goods, fuel and
energy related activities, exports and distri-
bution, waste generated from operations,
business travel and employee commuting.
Additional savings came via transport
and distribution processing of products sold;
the use of sold products; end-of-life treatment
of products sold; leased assets and invest-
ments with the total investment translating
into a 55% reduction in PFE International’s
environmental footprint.
The group had achieved a 14% reduction
in carbon dioxide emission year-on-year 2012
to 2013; another 8% the following year and
10% in 2015.
Constantly striving to improve
their standards is paying
dividends for multi-national
group PFE International in
recycling truck tyres into
rubber crumb.
Dr Mehran Zarrebini, PFE International CEO and Van Dyck Carpets director.
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“It is economically and consciously sound to comply with the
most stringent rules before they are enforced.”