Our Performance

Effluent Management

The more significant liquid effluents from our UK operations are produced from our R&D and manufacturing activities at our Sandwich facility. The effluent streams arise from production, non-hazardous laboratory wastes, foul drainage and rainwater runoff.

Following onsite treatment, effluent is discharged (under our Authorisation issued by the Environment Agency) to the River Stour. It is therefore essential that the quality of the discharge is high in order to protect ecosystems in the river.

The Authorisation specifies discharge limits that have been set by the Environment Agency in order to protect the environment.

Management

The Waste Water Treatment Facility (WWTF) provides protection to the River Stour. Commissioned in 1997, the facility uses chemical and biological treatment technologies to break down the constituents of the effluent streams producing a final product that is safe to release.

The facility was commissioned to meet the expanding requirements of the Sandwich site and is well in advance of UK and European Union water quality requirements.

We monitor the effluent discharge for a number of constituents, including pH, suspended solids, ammonia, temperature and Biological Oxygen Demand. Monitoring is carried out daily, on representative samples and in some cases, on a continuous basis. Performance of the WWTF during the 7 years of its operation has been very good with the exception of a loss of performance in 2005 that resulted in non-compliance. As detailed in previous reports this did not result in significant environmental impact. We are also happy to report that since that time the plant has returned to normal efficient operation.