Tub maker Greiner slashes bills with UK-first spend

Simon Clarke, Packaging News, 05 May 2010

 

£1.6m investment in innovative water treatment kit brings cost and green benefits, finds Simon Clarke

 

 

Who Greiner Packaging

Aim Implement new water treatment programme and new air compressors

Spend £1.6m

What Chillers, dry air coolers, heat exchangers and variable-speed pumps

When January 2010

Targets To cut energy costs

 

 

 

Challenge

Relentlessly rising energy costs have put both consumers and businesses under pressure. Given that Greiner Packaging's electricity bill was more than 5% of its annual turnover, the firm clearly needed to make savings.

 

UK consumers will be entirely familiar with the firm's output, even if they don't know its name. The Northern Ireland outpost of Austrian firm Greiner Packaging International employs 200 people and is responsible for producing tubs and cartons for products such as Kerrygold, Tims Dairy yoghurts and Yeo Valley's range of dairy desserts and spreads, as well as the bulk of five-gallon containers for mineral water in the UK. About 10% of its output of thin-wall plastic and cardboard/plastic containers is for non-food use in the automotive and pharmaceutical markets.

 

The company has enjoyed strong growth since it was formed after the Greiner Group's takeover of Wilsanco Plastics in 2006. But while its output is a staple of UK supermarket shelves and office water coolers, the company has faced mounting cost pressures in recent years and has been forced to raise its prices in response to hefty increases in raw materials, transport and energy costs.

 

Electricity alone was costing the plant £1.3m a year on a £23.5m turnover. "It was a big proportion of our cost base," says engineering manager Seamus McGovern. So the company embarked on a project to replace its water treatment and air compressor equipment with the aim of recouping waste heat and cutting its energy bill.

 

Strategy

The Greiner Group had driven a programme of investment in the plant since the takeover, which included improvements in storage and PET technology. The group's significant European presence and experience also meant it had a range of suppliers and contractors on hand to take on the project.

 

This meant the initial focus was on planning and securing funding for the investment. Greiner approached government regional development agency Invest Northern Ireland for support during the initial research and development phase, which gave approval in August 2009 for a grant of 20% of the total water project cost. 

 

With this in place, Greiner also sought backing from the Bank of Ireland and The Carbon Trust. Bank of Ireland's European Investment Bank Loan Fund provided a discounted rate loan for 60% of the water treatment upgrade, while Greiner worked with the Carbon Trust to assess the potential savings from installing new air compressors. When the numbers stacked up, Greiner secured a £400,000 loan from the Trust to provide efficient replacements that would reuse 80% of the energy they produce.

 

"There was an element of risk," admits Greiner Packaging chief executive Jarek Zasadzinski. "Funding was sought during the R&D process. We received a provisional OK from Invest Northern Ireland to work on the project until the full approval was released."

 

Implementation

Suppliers were sourced based on past experience of Greiner's similar projects throughout Europe. They included system design by Intemann, chillers from Axima Refrigeration, dry air coolers and heat exchangers from Cabero and high efficiency, variable speed pumps from Grundfos. Another key element of the project is an ingenious set-up which harnesses wind to cool the water - a major environmental and cost saving compared to running chillers.

 

Work began in August/September 2009 and lasted just over four months. The build was extensive, involving replacing all the pipework in the factory to create a new water cooling process. To add to this, engineering manager McGovern had to juggle integrating a full new system during the very busy September-November period.

 

"We were installing a massive infrastructure project during one of the plant's busiest times," he says. "The work needed careful planning to ensure the factory still met volume targets and consumer demand."

 

Results

According to McGovern, though, the project went very smoothly, especially considering its scope and impact. "It went very well - we haven't had any major hiccups so far," he says. Over the next year, Greiner will be validating the system. "We need to run it over the whole climate cycle to ensure it runs as efficiently as possible," he adds.

 

The aim is that the installation, which is the first of its kind in the UK and only the 10th in the world, will cut the firm's annual electricity bill by £400,000 a year and oil costs by £60,000 a year. Annual water usage is also predicted to fall by five million litres. Greiner expects to meet the UK Government's 2050 emissions target set out in the Climate Change Act within three years, as it works its way through a menu of energy costs, from the heating of plastic polymer to cooling of tools, compessed air and lighting. So far, Greiner has burned no oil since January as the factory is now heated entirely by recovered waste heat.