Energy savings for Kilsyth electronics firm

The Energy Efficiency Business Support Service, which is supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), is offering small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) energy assessments to identify where simple actions could result in significant financial savings.

Support can begin immediately, and assessments typically find 24 per cent savings on business energy bills. For a typical SME in Scotland that’s around a £2,500 saving on energy costs per year.

Kelvinside Electronics in Kilsyth designs, manufactures and repairs populated electronic circuit boards.

To keep pace with changing environmental legislation and demonstrate environmental commitment to its customers, the company has implemented many sustainability measures and achieved the ISO 14000 environmental management standard.

One of these measures was to introduce paperless processes in the workplace, which has reduced paper use and significantly reduced stationery costs.

In 2018, several members of staff undertook Zero Waste Scotland’s free Green Champions training course. Following the training, the company contacted the service for advice and support to make further energy savings. A free survey of the site revealed that replacing the existing fluorescent lights with modern LED technology could reduce annual energy costs by £8750 and carbon dioxide equivalent emissions by 21.8 tonnes.

The cost of doing this was estimated to be £30,000, to fund this the company applied for and was successful in securing an interest-free SME Loan.

As part of its drive for continuous environmental improvement, Kelvinside Electronics is now working to assess the potential benefits of removing hazardous solvents, which are used during the manufacturing process, from the waste stream by investing in solvent recycling technology.

Andrew McMullan, Safety, Health, Environment and Quality engineer at Kelvinside Electronics, said: “It was beneficial for the business with regards to reducing overheads, but also helping us achieve customer requirements for environmental compliance.”

To find out more, or to apply, visit www.energy.zerowastescotland.org.uk. Alternatively call 0808 808 2268 or email [email protected].