Crown Paints has set out its ambitious environmental targets for the year ahead and looks back at the successes the company has achieved in 2017 as part of its annual Sustainability Report.

The report brings together all aspects of Crown Paints’ commitment to the environment, from its energy usage to health and safety, as well as community and charitable initiatives that the company has undertaken in the past year.

The Darwen and Hull-based coatings company has plenty of reasons to celebrate its achievements in 2017, having significantly reduced its water usage and waste, and successfully implemented a new ‘Safety Excellence’ programme to improve health and safety across the group.

These successes are underlined by Crown Paints achieving the transition to the revised ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems standard, ISO 14001:2015. This latest version of the standard has more emphasis on top management involvement and continual improvement.

What’s more, six Crown Paints products now hold verified Environmental Product Declarations complying with European Standard EN 15804. The EPD is based on a full lifecycle assessment of the products’ environmental impact. Two products from Crown Trade’s newly launched Clean Extreme range now hold EPDs, as do Crown Trade’s Fastflow Gloss and Fastflow Primer Undercoat.

As well as celebrating Crown Paints’ achievements in the UK, the report also details the work undertaken by Crown’s parent company, the Hempel Foundation, across the world – including initiatives such as this year’s humanitarian trip to Peru, which saw Crown Paints’ John Vause lend a helping hand in educating schoolchildren.

The company has promised consistent improvement, already looking to the future, and the sustainability report also addresses the company’s environmental targets for 2018.

These include a target of reducing energy consumption in manufacturing by 5% against the 2017 baseline; reducing waste by 5% on a 2017 baseline; reducing water useage by 5% against the company's 2015 baseline; and to lose zero time to accidents in 2018.

The company is also making steps towards achieving its environmental targets, with the introduction of new paint containers made from 100% recycled plastic – making it the first paint manufacturer in the UK to do so.

Technical director at Crown Paints, John Murphy said: “With another successful year under our belt, we have taken great strides in our sustainability efforts throughout 2017 and I am very proud of everyone’s continued commitment to helping us reduce our environmental impact.

“The publication of the annual sustainability report gives us an opportunity to look back at the past year and celebrate where we have succeeded in meeting and exceeding targets, as well as looking at areas that require more attention in the future.

“We are always considering how we can improve our environmental performance and, as this year’s report demonstrates, everyone here at Crown fully supports our drive to continually improve our performance, this year and in the future.”

More on environmental developments and how companies are reducing plastic in the DIY and home improvement market in DIY Week's October 26 issue.