Commitment to a sustainable future has led to ASD Lighting operating with an impressive 93 per cent UK supply chain.
The Rotherham-based company, a Betterworld.Solutions member since 2021, has established an Environment and Sustainability Policy to grow the business without compromising quality, innovation or market position.
ASD recognises that its activities result in greenhouse gas emissions and waste generation, but is aiming to mitigate these impacts through training staff, investing in innovative and sustainable technology, and working with partners and stakeholders.
Sustainability is about much more than the environment, so ASD strives to have a positive impact on staff, customers, the communities it serves and the locations in which it operates.
The company aspires to be an industry and community leader in sustainability, with directors setting an example through decision making and fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
The aim is to involve and empower staff at all levels through training, engagement, and opportunities for innovation, with employees encouraged to propose and participate in initiatives.
In line with Rotherham Council’s target for the borough, ASD Lighting aims to become Net Zero for greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.
The company has been making progress since 2013 when it installed 600 solar panels on the roof of its Mangham Road factory on Barbot Hall Industrial Estate. Each year they generate around 90,000kWh of electricity and through their use ASD avoids around 18 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.
Since then, ASD has brought its Powder Coating line in-house, saving approximately 95 per cent of waste powder, which is reclaimed and returned to the process. Carbon dioxide emissions have also been reduced by up to 86 per cent from the process, and a heat exchanger transfers waste heat from the line and uses it to warm the Dispatch Warehouse, reducing the energy required for heating.
The company is a full member and supporter of Recolight, a charity working in the lighting sector to provide expert sustainability advice. Recolight also provides a WEEE (waste electrical and electronic equipment) recycling scheme, facilitating on-site collection and recycling of old luminaires and other WEEE waste. In 2024 Recolight recycled 1.8 tonnes of WEEE waste from the ASD Lighting factory site and 155 tonnes of old luminaires from ASD Lighting’s customers.
ASD Lighting partners with Waste Mission for most of its waste disposal. Waste paper, card, polycarbonate, steel, copper, and aluminium are treated as commodities, and sold for further use in manufacturing processes.
Glass, mixed recycling (cans, plastic bottles, food trays etc), and food waste are recycled under the Simpler Recycling in England scheme.
It is estimated that through this scheme an extra 200 litres of waste per week is diverted to recycling. The remaining waste, approximately one-third of the total, is sent for energy reclamation. No waste goes to landfill.
Working with Waste Mission, particularly around bailing waste and paper/card, has reduce collections from 72 to four per year, with a commensurate reduction in transport emissions.
ASD Lighting employs a dedicated Environment and Sustainability Officer, Greg Bristol, who works on factory, business and product sustainability. Product designers have been trained in circular manufacturing principles and the company has begun work on calculating the embodied carbon in its luminaires, and the circularity of its production processes. Materials with lower carbon footprints are being investigated, with products designed for durability and minimal environmental impact.
Work has also begun on quantifying the company’s Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, to understand where reductions in greenhouse gas emissions can be achieved.
Other small changes such as installing hand dryers in all toilets across the factory have saved over 600,000 paper towels. Grassed areas have been allowed to grow out, allowing flowers to bloom and provide food for insects, particularly bees. Plastic packaging tape was swapped out for paper tape, improving the recyclability of packaging.
The company works with partners to procure sustainable materials and promote reuse, remanufacturing and recycling of its luminaires. As part of the supplier audit, suppliers are asked how their practices compliment those of ASD Lighting, and how they improve ASD Lighting’s sustainability performance.
Another positive result is the amount of ASD Lighting’s supply chain now based in the UK.
Greg says: "During my recruitment and since I have been impressed with how friendly and forward thinking the company and its staff are.
“ASD, as a locally based UK manufacturing business, has all its operations in one place. This makes it easier to have influence as a sustainability professional. “There is a desire within the company to be more environmentally friendly. It is an exciting place to be and to contribute to the sustainability journey.
“We rely on a majority UK supplier base for the components we currently outsource. This improves reliability and continuity of supply, as well as helping to further reduce our transportation emissions.
“We are a relatively small organisation and face many challenges, including the cost of materials and energy, a competitive marketplace, and the need to incorporate sustainability as a core part of doing business.
“I hope we can be an example to other small businesses who find the environmental challenge daunting, that it can be done and that it will benefit those businesses in the short and longer term.”
Find out more at https://asdlighting.com/sustainability/ where you can also watch a video of Greg talking about the company’s approach to sustainability.
