Undertaking an environmental impact assessment of six of Stelrad's standard panel radiator ranges sold in the UK.
Stelrad wanted to understand the environmental impact of six of its standard panel radiator ranges sold in the UK and was looking for assistance to complete a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to include radiator types 11/K1, 21/P+, and 22/K2, for the following ranges, manufactured at facilities in Mexborough, UK, and in Çorlu, Turkey: Stelrad Elite, Stelrad Compact, Savanna I, Softline Compact, Vita Compact, and Henrad Compact.
Stelrad commissioned Valpak’s consultancy team to develop bespoke LCA modelling to quantify in detail the environmental impacts of the manufacturing processes in terms of the materials used, energy, fuels, consumables, packaging, wastes, transport of materials, and products within their supply chains, and distribution of the finished products to customer sites.
The system boundary in the assessment was ‘cradle-to-gate’+ end of life (EoL) for all processes. For production in Turkey, the environmental impacts of the transport of the final product (including packaging and the hardware pack) to Stelrad’s distribution centre at Mexborough were included. The environmental impacts of the installation and use phase of the radiators were not in scope.
Across the model ranges, Phase 1 of the project focussed on a comprehensive assessment of the carbon footprints for around 50 components, consumable items, and packaging used to make the radiators, together with energy, waste, and transport. Phase 2 broadened the assessment to consider around 30 environmental impact indicators that are mandatory to be Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) compliant with EN15804+A2:2019 for construction products.
The results increased Stelrad’s understanding of its environmental impacts and helped target ongoing and planned initiatives to directly address these impacts. For example, the assessment highlighted the carbon savings to be made from utilising lower gauge steel across its operations, increasing the proportion of material that is sourced locally, and greater standardisation of components across the group. The LCA work will also be invaluable when reviewing the packaging used to improve its sustainability.
The overall outcomes from the assessment were so positive that Stelrad has committed to expanding the approach into other manufacturing sites and other product types. This will further increase Stelrad’s knowledge of its overall impacts and enable future improvements to Stelrad’s sustainability objectives.
Valpak assisted us in identifying and targeting initiatives to support our sustainability objectives. Throughout the project the Valpak team was professional, flexible, and easy to work with, producing high-quality outputs that were explained in detail as the project progressed. The outputs from the project fully met the initial objectives, and their value has been such that we will be replicating and expanding this in other areas, with Valpak’s help.