Mannok’s “Reduce and Reuse” Water Sustainability Initiative Eliminates Water Waste in Roof Tiles Station Cleaning

One of Mannok’s many ongoing sustainability initiatives has seen a substantial reduction in water usage. In Mannok’s Roof Tiles division, following a drive to reduce and reuse water waste in the cleaning process of paint spraying stations, it has achieved up to 50% reduction in water usage along with all run-off water being reused. 

With three paint spraying stations onsite across the roof tile production lines, there is daily need to clean each station thoroughly after use, which produces waste water. The Roof Tiles Management and Technical Teams collaborated with BSI to undertake a monitoring and trial scheme to determine the optimum quantity of water to use in the cleaning process without affecting quality standards. The balance required sufficient water to thoroughly clean the paint stations so the machinery would continue to efficiently perform, in particular checking that the jets were not blocked with dried, hardened paint residue overnight.  

A series of trials were undertaken to ensure the optimum balance was achieved which met the required cleaning standard and minimised water usage. As a result of the initiative, water usage in this cleaning process is down by up to 50% from circa 450l – 500l per station clean to circa 250l. Meters have been installed on the water lines to take daily readings and allow for monitoring and reporting on water usage to ensure the improvements are maintained.  

As well as reducing the volume of water used in the cleaning process, the water sustainability initiative looked at the volume of water which could be used in the production of new products. To further conserve water, all of the water from cleaning the paint spraying stations is now re-used to produce new tiles or other products in the Mannok range, resulting in zero waste water from the process. In the drier months when more water is required in tile production, the water will all be re-used in tile manufacturing to ensure the zero water waste achievement is maintained. 

Commenting on the water conservation achievement, Clive Fitzpatrick, Roof Tiles Manager said:   

“As a business with sustainability at its core, we have been re-evaluating all our processes to ensure we are operating as efficiently as we can. We are delighted with our achievements to reduce water usage and waste and I commend everyone involved. It has been a pleasure to see how receptive and committed our team has been to the initiative and we are looking forward to further sustainability achievements.”