Environment and safety
Next generations require us to hand over buildings that provide clean air, clean water, protect the environment, help to manage waste, provide aesthetic pleasure and physical comfort for a long time. They will hold us accountable too ! Therefore, sustainability becomes more and more a matter of risc management. How much risc do you take, socially and financially, by developping buildings that meet sustainability criteria insufficiently ? This provides new challenges to developpers of social real estate and with that obviously for suppliers of building materials. A challenge Descol gladly accepts. We focus on implementing the consumption of renewable and recycled resources, limit our impact on climate change, avoid poluted waste water and development of solutions for efficient construction and maintenance of our infrastructure. We as Descol have a responsibility and we are not afraid to take it.
Sustainable entrepreneurship is not an empty slogan at Descol.For years, we have been working hard to strike a sound balance between man and the environment. “This starts with our staff,“ explains Bas Logister. “From the top to the bottom of our organisation, everyone is aware that people can really make the difference. This means that we let our employees do courses, to enable them to take the environment as the starting point in everything they do in their daily practice. This constitutes the basis for the awareness of the importance of sustainability, which is supported throughout the organisation.”
ISO 14001 Environmental Management System
“Descol is continuously investing in innovative and environmentally friendly solutions throughout the chain,” according to Bas Logister. “From R&D and production right down to installing and maintenance of our sports floors, the focus is on sustainability. Our environmental management system is ISO 14001-certified. But we do much more. We respect all legislation and regulations worldwide, and like to take up the challenge of creating innovative solutions to save the environment. For example, in the production of our compounds, we have banned all heavy metals such as lead, cadmium and mercury. Even better, 60% of all materials used can be labelled ‘recycled’. An example is the use of approximately 1,000,000 discarded tyres a year and renewable raw materials such as castor oil, a natural and inexhaustible resource.”
Recyclable plant waste
Bas Logister continues: “During the production process, the environment plays a key role too. Our manufacturing processes are designed in such a way that we use less energy every year. To restrict emissions of hazardous substances, we use particle filter systems and ensure that cooling and waste water are as clean as possible. Almost 100% of our plant waste is currently recyclable. This was achieved by our smart approach to both our own production facilities and the materials delivered by suppliers. We re-use as much of the return packaging of our raw materials as possible. The majority of our product packaging is also recycled. We support sustainable building and purchasing, and we are a member of the Dutch Green Building Council and Ecospecifier.”
Sustainable use
“When we install our floors, we use water-based coatings whenever we can. But also when the floor is in use, the environment plays a key role. Leaching into the soil is not an issue and emissions into the atmosphere are very limited. Maintenance can be done with water-based environmentally friendly cleaning agents. In addition, our practical experience gained in decades of floor installation has proven that our sports floors are so durable that they exceed the life of the building. After a facelift, a Pulastic sports floor is ready again for years of service. If a customer, for whatever reason, decides to eventually replace the floor, the waste material can be removed as industrial waste without any problem.”
Creating conditions for the future
“Caring for the environment is ingrained in Descol,” Bas Logister concludes, not without pride. “Parent company Sika takes part in the worldwide Responsible Care Program, set up by the chemical industry. All 106 Sika subsidiaries in 72 countries are committed to this programme. In its annual reports, Sika publishes the results of its efforts in the field of sustainability. But Sika companies also support a range of social and ecological projects around the world. We believe that respect for nature starts at the level of the individual. Every human being must be aware of the fact that we have the world on loan. Today we want to create the conditions for a cleaner world tomorrow. This is the challenge that drives Descol!”
Social involvement
Sika and Descol know that sustainability also implies social involvement. An example of a project in which both Sika and Descol cooperate along with many other suppliers, is the Ronald McDonald Centre. Read more about this project.
