Building a Sustainable Future
A‑Gas Operations Director, Rob Parker, explains why the business adopts cradle to the grave policies and practices on energy saving.
The environmental performance of our business is one of our key drivers. A‑Gas is an international company and sustainability is a part of what we do wherever we are working in the world. This brings many benefits to the business, including, at the simplest level, allowing us to offer the best possible service to customers.
Without the support of our A‑Gas colleagues, this would not happen. Core to what we do as a business is reclaiming refrigerants and selling them back to the industry. Our team play a key role in this reclamation culture.
Energy-saving through our environmental performance is a side of the business our team really enjoy being a part of. They understand the benefits of extending the lifecycle of our products and this is reflected in the ways they support our philosophy of adopting the practices of the Circular Economy – the opposite to the take, make and dispose of business model.
Preventing refrigeration leaks is an important part of this. Trace-A-Gas® from A-Gas is a leak detection system with a five per cent hydrogen and 95 per cent nitrogen mixture. Case studies have shown that by using this, leaks can be detected in the smallest of quantities and very quickly.
A-Gas employed 20 years’ experience in refrigerant reporting, leak testing and cylinder tracking to find an alternative to the time-consuming and inefficient paper trail. By talking to industry experts, distributors, engineers and end users we were able to develop Gas‑Trak Online™ (GTO), an app which provides a simple way of meeting F‑Gas compliance.
Our off the shelf oil disposal service also allows engineers to recover refrigerant contaminated oil in containers, safely and securely, ensuring environmental compliance. This means that the old oil is disposed of responsibly through a strictly monitored waste management programme at licensed premises and in doing so removes the burden from the contractor – saving time and minimising cost.
A key part of our sustainability culture is making sure that no refrigerant goes to waste. At A-Gas, we have invested heavily in reclamation equipment to ensure reclaimed refrigerant remains a stable source of supply for many years to come.
At A-Gas, the processes we have on site are built and managed in a sustainable way. At our Portbury site, near Bristol, UK, we employ heat pump technology which allows us to use as little electricity as possible. This can cover everything from our distillation and cleaning system to the way we heat our offices.
Each A-Gas site has a committee looking at ways we can improve sustainability in the workplace. This includes every waste stream coming in and out of the plant.
Nothing goes to landfill – a change we introduced in the last year. This ranges from the plastic wrap off the refrigerant cylinders to the paper we use in our offices. All is fully reclaimed.
We sort metals by types to ensure that they can be reclaimed in the most efficient way. Anything that cannot be recycled goes through an energy recovery process – which can be converted into usable heat or electricity.
Good ideas get actioned at A-Gas. We listen to our team and we have the A-Gas Factor of the Month Award to celebrate those who go above and beyond. Not every idea can be progressed but those that do work we want to make a big deal about.
We have strong relationships with suppliers and customers, sharing our beliefs and practices on sustainability. Cradle to grave sustainability, of which energy saving is a part, drives us forward as a business. Without the support of our team, this would not happen. The fact that their views are always listened to and they receive feedback no matter what ensures that this is a two-way process that flourishes.
