Published: 15/02/2021, 13:00

Brammer Buck & Hickman Insite™ Manager Helps Customer Reduce Plastic Waste

We are all aware of the harmful effects waste plastic is having on our environment.  At Brammer Buck & Hickman we continually strive to reduce plastic waste in our own business and also in our customers’ by suggesting and encouraging alternatives.  One man, Dan Brookes - Insite™ Manager for a supplier of major aircraft structures – is a particular driving force in this and his passion for the green revolution is inspiring.

Dan has been with Brammer Buck & Hickman for over 15 years and has been instrumental in helping to make us all think more about sustainability and waste reduction.  In the past, he has championed a project for a customer which helped reduce hazardous waste through the adoption of new technology for paint masking aerospace composite panels and has been involved in many similar projects, which also resulted in customer cost savings; a real win-win!

Whilst plastic waste is a huge issue, Dan firmly believes that everyone has a role to play and even a small change can make a big difference.  Most recently, Dan encouraged a customer to replace disposal plastic cups and cutlery in its onsite canteen with biodegradable alternatives. 

On the face of it, biodegradable plastics (namely VegWear or any other greener option) are more expensive than plastic so Dan took a two pronged approach.  “I got speaking with some other colleagues and asked if we could collectively ‘bang the drum’ about reducing the single waste plastics being used in the canteen.  This soon gained momentum and the more people who raised concerns the louder our voices became.  At the same time, I asked the onsite waste contractor to calculate the average weight of this waste stream and estimated the costings if we were to transfer these items into paper cups and biodegradable plastics.”

The approach worked!  “The catering company was asked to consider the commercial effects of switching their cutlery and cups to greener options. Costs were considered, waste streams calculated and, on World Environment Day, the site transferred over to paper cups at water fountains and biodegradable cutlery in the canteens. They also stopped issuing disposal cups for takeaway coffee onsite and issued all employees a reusable coffee cup and a reusable water bottle.”

The customer designed an awareness poster to help promote recycling and the waste contractor created new signage to make it easier for people to use the correct waste bins.

On a roll, Dan also asked for recycling bins for the paper cups to be placed by the water fountains so waste streams could be segregated (reducing processing costs).  A few months later segregated food waste was also introduced in the canteen and kitchen.

On World Environment Day a few extra activities were organised such as a beach clean-up, local nature reserve walks to install bug houses built by the staff in the woodshop and a site-wide litter pick.

The customer has been impressed with Dan’s efforts and invited him to join their plastic reduction project team. Dan now meets biweekly with the team to discuss which initiatives are progressing or need addressing. “My project management skills came in handy here to help drive progress and have actually opened opportunities for new business for Brammer Buck & Hickman. I continue to support this function and meet weekly with the LEAN/Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) stakeholders regarding continuous improvement.”  An example of this progress includes a switch from using plastic 500ml paint mixing pots to a 150ml pot as Dan identified that users only ever mix 100ml of paint. This has reduced the plastic waste stream further and saved the customer money!

Dan remains modest though: “It’s only a few small steps but it’s helped the overall attitude onsite towards recycling /thinking greener. It may not be the most exciting subject, but I believe that we have a duty of care towards the future generation by protecting our planet.”