Ardagh Group has been awarded the Health and Safety and Sustainable Practice awards at the British Glass annual Glass Focus awards, held at the Millennium Gallery in Sheffield, 22 November.
Ardagh Group’s Doncaster glass plant tackled the subject of employee wellbeing with five off-site ‘Inspire Days’ for all colleagues. The days focused on six key factors in striving to improve the wellbeing of employees: mental health, a mindful approach to health & safety, nutrition (focused on managing energy levels when working shifts), trust & leadership, personal health & sleep, relaxation & mindfulness. Employees then strengthened their relationships through teamwork exercises and discussions.
Plant Director, James Grant, says “The impact has been outstanding – colleagues feel able to openly discuss mental health issues, often a taboo subject in a predominantly male industry. At the end of each Inspire Day, people shared their intentions to make changes to support their own wellbeing and we will continue to support them to achieve a healthier, happier workforce.”
Ardagh Group’s Irvine glass plant in Scotland runs all year round, producing glass bottles for major consumer brands. To support continuous production, a reliable source of energy was needed to overcome intermittent power failures from the National Grid, which also provided an opportunity to reduce the plant’s carbon footprint by moving away from a reliance on thermal energy.
A hybrid battery storage system was implemented to increase resilience and energy security at the plant, tapping into renewable energy sources such as solar and wind, to provide a reliable supply of green energy during peak consumption and delivering energy to the grid when demand is low.
The pioneering technology has transformed the way energy usage is managed at the plant and supports Ardagh Group’s commitment to environmental responsibility and sustainable manufacturing processes.
“Judging gave us all a difficult time,” said Dr Nick Kirk, Technical Director of the organisers and hosts British Glass. “And if there’s one thing we’d like to say it’s that all the entries were excellent. There were many intriguing and beautiful designs, and amazing ideas, and we could clearly see that the sector’s businesses believe strongly in developing their people for the future.”