Transport issues feature in the report, with the note that in general the distances travelled to obtain material have fallen over the past five years with 3,500,000 kms driven in 1999. However, in 2000 a shortage of fibre meant an extra 1 million kilometres were travelled by delivery vehicles because of the fibre shortage. This is thought to have been caused by increased exports and lower collection levels in some areas.
Lorries delivering used newspapers and magazines to the mill had an average payload of 17.05 tonnes and in 2000 29,019 deliveries were made. A similar amount of deliveries were made in 1999 although the payload then averaged only 15.65 tonnes.
Aylesford's success in making best-use of its paper machines is indicated with the performance levels achieved. It now produces about 400,000 tonnes per annum of newsprint of which about 30% was exported in 2000. The newsprint product is fully recycled and requires about 500,000 tonnes per annum – 60 tonnes per hour – of recovered newspapers and magazines. Year 2000 figures show a yield of wastepaper to newsprint of 80.9%. And, October 2000 saw the achievement of a world record for newsprint production efficiency on the plant's Paper Machine 14 (PM14).
Chief executive Alan McKendrick, said: “The mill continues to operate open and accountable systems. We have been leaders in our industry in the change from Integrated Pollution Control (IPC) to Integrated Pollution, Prevention and Control (IPPC) by working with the Environment Agency on the pilot study, as well as preparing an application pro forma for use by other paper manufacturers and other industrial business.”
The Environment Report has been audited by PriceWaterhouseCoopers which says it addresses environmental aspects fairly. It also suggests that a further step would be to report on the environmental and health and safety performance of suppliers.
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