Our energy and resources
We strive to tackle not only prevalent environmental issues by decreasing our emissions, water and energy usage, but also through the implementation of measures to reduce usage rates of raw materials while also only purchasing raw materials from known sustainable sources.
Achieved through investment, an upgrading of machinery, better planning and resource management, our energy efficiency efforts have helped us to deliver a fall in net carbon footprint by 6.5% in the last reporting period.
Portals’ on-site Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant self generates approximately 80% of the Overton Mill’s site requirements and we have aspirations to become totally self sufficient in the future. We also supply any surplus energy to the UK National Grid with in the region of enough power to supply 80,000 houses for a year.
To maximise water efficiencies, we have invested in the latest water filtration technologies across our sites. Powerful filters clean the waste by removing fibres and chemical residues, purifying the water as it completes the filtration process. The water is then able to be reused on site in the production process or is discharged back into one of the local rivers, as clean if not cleaner than it was when it was taken out at the start of the process.
The primary raw material for our banknotes is cotton, a by-product of the textile industry which would otherwise end up as waste going to landfill. For our other high security papers, we use wood pulp sourced via the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), the world’s largest forest certification system, promoting sustainable forest management and helping to protect the world’s trees.
