Colin Trier, Environmental Science Programme,

University of Plymouth

IntroductionKnowledge Transfer Partnerships with local

companies Implementation of the Environmental

Management System ISO14001 standardDeveloped an EMS case study for the MSc

Sustainable Environmental ManagementCase studies like this can bridge a gap between

academia and business (the employability gap?)

What is the KTP Scheme?Partnership between a university and a local

business (SME)Funding mediated through a Government

department such as DEFRA or a Regional Development Agency

Enables the 2 year employment of a Research Associate

http://www.ktponline.org.uk/

KTP and the EnvironmentFocus on improving the environmental

performance of a companyEnvironmental concerns are rarely the core

businessRecent exponential rise in environmental costs Increasing burdens imposed by EU/UK

environmental legislation and regulationFormal process for improving environmental

performance: an Environmental Management System accredited to the ISO14001 standard.

What are the Benefits?From the university side the need for staff to

update their knowledge and experience. Potential for a fruitful two-way learning experience

The best continual professional development opportunity (CPD)?

Strong beneficial impact on teaching

Why Build Relationships With Local Industry?Masters students represent the higher achieversMany of them come directly from undergraduate

coursesUndergraduate courses have had constant pressure to

limit field workField visits to the most polluting industries sites have

become increasingly rareHealth & Safety culture, commercial sensitivities, costs

and large group sizeMasters students have much theoretical but little

practical experience of the most polluting industries

What Kind of Knowledge Do the MSc SEM Students Need?To bridge the gap between student experience and

the wider world of industry without having site visits

The in depth involvement as a KTP supervisor has yielded experience to develop case studies on the practical implementation of EMS

To engage the student interest at a deeper level

A Brief Explanation of EMS Focusing on Significant AspectsISO 14001 defines an EMS as: "The part of the overall management system that

includes organisational structure, planning activities, responsibilities, practices, procedures, processes and resources for developing, implementing, achieving, reviewing and maintaining the environmental policy"

A comprehensive review of all the activities of the company

To identify any aspects that might have an impact on the environment

Ranked in terms of significance based on magnitude of hazard and frequency of occurrence in normal, abnormal and emergency circumstances.

Chartered Environmentalist Perspective When I walk around an industrial site I am

constantly making observations and identifying potentially significant environmental aspects.

A key skill for the professional environmental scientist working in this field

How can one develop this skill in students? Many students have great difficulty in this process The primary objective of case studies to develop

student skill in indentifying and ranking environmental aspects of a business.

A Brief Illustration:The case study based on a local company

producing retread truck tyresThe company manages the tyre performance and

replacement for almost 65% of all the grocery deliveries within the UK.

See Spring 2008 newsletterAnd Environmental Policyhttp://www.bandvulc.com/EnvironmentalPolicy.aspx

What Aspects of The Business Have Potential Environmental Impacts? Starting point for workshop case studyI invite the ex KTP associate plus an engineer friend

who co-supervised the KTP with me, to join the workshop.

This additional multi perspective input from external professionals is a great help in bringing the case study to life.

The pedagogy of so many current teaching agendas, e.g. ESD, emphasises the importance of process as much as content and this is no more true than in a case study approach like the one described here.

Bandvulc is a Leading Retreader for Truck Tyres 3500 tyres produced per week (170,000 per

annum)Huge energy and resource savings involved when

compared with new tyres.

Environmental Benefits of Retread TyresDATA

Step By Step Description of the Manufacturing Process

Used Tyres Manually SortedStage 1 Visual InspectionTo remove worst casings that cannot be processed,

looking gross defects e.g. ?

ShearographyThis involves testing for casing failures not visible

to the naked eye. Casings passed along a conveyor with negative vacuum applied; series of images taken are superimposed to spot any changes.

Buffing StageOld rubber removed from face of tyre for retread

to have clean surface. Also side of tyre is buffed to remove old manufacturer’s information. This step can generate fine tyre crumb in atmosphere. Situation is controlled by extraction system with rubber dust recovered for recycling using electrostatic precipitator

Tyre SprayingAdhesive is sprayed onto tyre casings to activate

surface and give extra ‘tack’.Xylene solvent is used and annual consumption is

48,000 litres (41.5 tonnes pa).

BuildingPhysical placing of new rubber tread around old

casing. Some failure can occur of part cured rubber which

is rejected

PressHigh pressure (with an internal bladder inflated to

15 bar) provided by compressed air and high temperature (150-200C) provided by steam, welds new rubber to old casing in a batch process taking 65 minutes to complete.

External moulding determines external pattern on tyre

PeelingA mainly cosmetic requirement that takes off any

excess rubber around the edges of the new tyre. Generates scrap rubber.

Product Storage10,000 casings maximum stored under cover20,000 old tyres waiting retreading, stored outside

in yard. 68,700 total scrap casings/year

Additional Information for Case StudyEnergy and WaterResourcesWasteTransportOffice

EnergyGas boiler for steamFour compressors providing compressed air (only

two used at any one time) at approximately 11 or 12 bar. On the press line only a booster pushes this up to 15 bar for the press.

Buffing uses four 35 kw motors plus two 70kwh extractor fans

Electricity and Gas annual bill £400,000

Water Consumption and Effluent Discharge40% loss of water as steam during the process but

the effluents discharged are not contaminated and there is only a £7,000 annual bill

Resources InNatural rubber and Carbon Black (high grade),

these are bought in a master batch already mixed; £3,000,000 annual bill. A lot of the natural rubber comes from Malaysia but the price is constantly going up because of a shortage brought about by the transfer of agricultural resources from rubber plantations to palm oil.

SilicaPolybutyldiene?Solvent SB2 (?) annual consumption (?) cut by half

this last year?

WastePowdered rubber, 29 tonnes per week (down from

40 tonnes last year), is recycled back into the master batch to manufacturing at a maximum of 3-5%. Scrap casing are transported to Birmingham where Charles Lawrenson granulates them for use in playground surfaces.

TransportFuel consumption 500,000 litres of diesel per

annum