Europlaz’s £700k sustainability pledge triggers host of new orders

Europlaz, which employs over 110 people at its Southminster facility, has invested more than £700,000 over the last six years into ‘greening’ its manufacturing operations and making a positive impact on the communities it operates in.

As part of this strategy, the company has secured the ISO:14001 environmental accreditation, produces up to 68 per cent of its energy from solar panels and has reinforced its desire to be Net Zero by 2045 - in line with the requirements set by the NHS.

Ellie Harrington, Sustainability Officer at Europlaz, said: “We are proud to manufacture products that save lives and want to extend this philosophy by making sure we have a positive Environmental, Social and Governance strategy (ESG) in place.

“This got underway six years ago, but the last 12 months have seen us really accelerate our investment in this area as we can see the difference it is making to our environmental footprint, the wellbeing of our staff and the sectors we operate in.

“For the first time, we have managed to calculate the carbon footprint of a product we manufacture. TIVA (Total Intravenous Anaesthesia Sets) involves production and two-stage assembly - we’ve completely mapped the process so that we can look at ways where we can minimise waste, reduce energy and ultimately cut the carbon footprint involved.

“This is just the start and we hope to create the greenest anaesthetist product ever made. We’ve now got another six products we’re looking to do the same for.”

Europlaz, which is ISO13485-certified, operates from its state-of-the-art site on The Maltings Industrial Estate in Southminster, near Chelmsford.

From here, the family-run business has invested £4 million into creating a world-class facility capable of injection moulding, assembly, product validation and access to modern cleanrooms, all certified to ISO Class 7 for the manufacture of Class I, Class II and Class III medical devices.

Most of its work is focused on helping medical device and healthcare businesses commercialise new technology, with recent success stories featuring a home dialysis machine, a patient friendly and easy-to-use breath operated inhaler and a bio-artificial liver.

Harrington concluded: “Sustainability is a win-win. We know we are measuring and refining our production processes so that we can manufacture as green as we can.

“It also means we are meeting domestic and global healthcare standards and this is already paying off. So far, we believe this approach has resulted in £650,000 of new work that we previously would have been excluded from.”