Clearview 233 - April 2021 | Page 8

INDUSTRYNEWS

Zero Landfill Mark

After a two-and-a-half-year waste management programme , Window Widgets has now achieved a zero-landfill mark , as the company looks to build further upon its impressive green credentials .
» DRIVEN BY ANDREW TAYLOR , QHSE Manager , the waste management programme ensures that only compliant waste carriers with an up-to-date licence are used across the recycling and re-processing of nineteen different types of waste . Investment has been made in waste bailers and compactors at their site in Quedgeley , Gloucestershire and there are additional plans to help process further materials for recycling , that are currently designated as general waste .
The general waste that can ’ t be recycled is transported directly to the new £ 633m Javelin Park incineration plant near junction 12 of the M5 , that is run by Urbaser Balfour Beatty on behalf of Gloucestershire County Council to treat the county ’ s residual waste . The aim of this new plant is to generate enough power for 25,000 local homes , make a significant reduction in carbon emissions and will save the taxpayer £ 100 million over 25 years .
Elsewhere in the business the first fully electric company car has been delivered , with others to follow , while several carbon offsetting schemes are also under consideration in a companywide strategy of making Window Widgets one of the most environmentally conscious companies in the glazing and fenestration sectors . The business is also looking to change their electricity suppliers when this comes up for renewal in 2022 to one that is based on 100 % renewables .
Sarah Hitchings , sales and marketing director of Window Widgets commented : “ It ’ s everyone ’ s role to help tackle climate change and businesses can and should be making a major contribution to the future of the planet . Achieving the zero-landfill mark is a major milestone for us , especially as we start to look at celebrating our 21st year in business , yet our thirst for enhancing our green credentials has never been so strong and credit must be given to Andrew Taylor for this immense achievement .”
windowwidgets . co . uk

STAMP DUTY EXTENSION IS WELCOMED BY FENESTRATION

» A £ 100BN SAVINGS MOUNTAIN AND a three-month extension to the stamp duty holiday are the clearest signals yet that we can expect demand in the retail market to continue at current levels for quite some time yet .
That ’ s the view of Martin Nettleton , Managing Director or Barnsley based trade fabricator Euroglaze , who says that the fenestration market has much to be pleased about in Rishi Sunak ’ s budget .
He says : “ There was a risk that the housing market might dip if the stamp duty holiday was abruptly withdrawn – and we now have certainty that won ’ t happen . The Chancellor was obviously keen to maintain buyer confidence at least until we get to the end of the current restrictions , and I think he has largely achieved that .
“ Given the fact that UK households are estimated to have accumulated around £ 100bn in excess savings during the pandemic – a significant proportion of which we can hope will be spent on home improvements , that ’ s really positive news for our sector .
“ We also of course had some reassurance in the budget that the much-trailed hikes to corporation tax won ’ t kick in until April 2023 and even then , there will be tapered increases for businesses with smaller profits , which will help many of the retail installers operating at the sharp end of our industry .
“ And , for fabrication businesses like ours which are always looking to invest , we were delighted to see the improved tax breaks available for plant and machinery .
“ Growth this year is predicted at 4 % and next year at 7 %, which would see the economy return to pre-pandemic levels . There ’ s obviously a huge amount of public debt to be cleared , but with Rishi signalling that he intends to continue investing for growth rather than taxing hard and fast to balance the books at this stage , I think we should all be feeling pretty positive about the outlook for our market in 2021 .”
www . euroglaze . co . uk
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