The Virox team has long prided itself on
developing and manufacturing cleaners
and disinfectants that provided a safer
and greener alternative for end users.
Proof of this comes with several Green
Seal and EcoLogo registered cleaners as
well as Canada’s first EcoLogo registered
disinfectant-cleaner. For 2009, we were
challenged to look internally at our all activities
within the company from materials
management to production, research and
development to sales and put the concept
of “SUSTAINABILITY” into practice.
To meet this challenge, we created a “GREEN TEAM”, which includes members from each department. Over the past 6 months the team has been working to develop our Corporate Sustainability Document and set objectives and goals for the team and company for the next 5 years. Thus, our core competency statement:
“Virox is committed to innovating,
developing and improving peroxide based
environmentally sustainable cleaners and
disinfectants that allow our affiliates to
reduce their environmental impact when
consuming such necessary products. A
focus on health and environmental sustainability
is a legacy we will pass on to future generations.”
Q1 Update 2010
As introduced in the Fall 2009 Newsletter
(issue 20), an interdisciplinary team was
established to focus on Virox’s environmental
impact in all that we do in order to
meet our corporate vision of sustainability.
Year 2010 promises to be a busy and
exciting time for the Green Team as several
projects get underway. Virox recently
awarded EmTerra the waste and recycling
management contract for our facilities.
One of the key elements that attracted us
to EmTerra was their single-stream recycling
program. This means that, similar
to how we recycle at home, all recyclable
materials (glass, plastic, tin and paper) can
be placed in the same box. This simplifies recycling for all employees but also for our Environmental Services team. We look forward to sharing how much waste we were able to redirect from the landfill at the end of the year.
Our second project will get underway in
the next few weeks - to replace the lighting
system currently used in the production
and warehouse areas. Our current
lighting system uses metal halide bulbs which are not known for their effiencies in either energy consumption or provision
of light. We will be moving to electronic
ballasts and the use of T5 and T8 bulbs.
This move will realize close to a 20% reduction
in energy consumption!
In perhaps one of the loftiest and most
exciting projects of 2010, the Green Team will be working towards LEEDs certification. To get us on our way we have hired
Antonio and Denise Santini from Redstudio
Architects to conduct a full audit our
facility and bench mark us against LEED
compliance. The Santini’s company was
chosen because of their holistic approach
to design. Their company maxim is “creating
innovative building that respect the
environment” which marries itself well
with our corporate stance - “Virox is committed
to innovating, developing and improving
peroxide based environmentally
sustainable cleaners and disinfectants that allow our affiliates to reduce their environmental impact when consuming such
necessary products. A focus on health and
environmental sustainability is a legacy
we will pass on to future generations.”
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