|
|
|
About Our Site
Powertrain Ltd is situated Bromsgrove district of Worcestershire at the eastern end of the MG Rover, Longbridge plant where engines and transmissions have been manufactured for well over 60 years. The site is located approximately 12 kilometres southwest of Birmingham city centre along the A38 and is within 5 kilometres from both the M42 and M5 motorways.
Rural farmland, parkland and a housing estate surround the plant with a site of special scientific interest just two kilometres to our east.
We are very careful to respect our neighbours on all environmental issues and we respond with diligence to any concerns that may arise.
 click to enlarge |
Our on site Low Pressure Sandcasting Foundry produces most of the castings for the cylinder blocks and heads for the engines, which are manufactured within the factory. The main machine shop machines these castings and most of the other major parts of the engines and transmissions we produce. These finished components together with the hundreds of other bought out finished parts are assembled on our lines into the products described on this website. |
Finally, the engines and transmissions undergo a test to ensure quality before they are dispatched to our customers.
In the time we have been here we have produced 2.4 million 4 cylinder engines, 1.5 million gearboxes, 420,000 diesel engines and 150,000 V6 engines.
Our Environmental Management System
In 1996, the Longbridge site was certified to the BS 7750 standard under the Rover Group, and was the first UK car manufacturer to receive the standard.
Powertrain Ltd has continued with this certification and is now certified to the more stringent International Standard ISO 14001 "Environmental Management Systems", by the Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA).
The VCA makes regular visits to audit our standards, processes and management arrangements to ensure we implement and maintain the requirements of the standard.
We, as a business, are also credited under ISO 9001 : 2000 "Quality Management Systems" and have an integrated Quality and Environmental system to ensure that the necessary procedures are in place.
Our internal audit team carries out regular audits to assess the implementation of the procedures across the organisation and reports are circulated at First Line level.
Powertrain Ltd have a public Environmental Policy Statement.
This is issued to all levels of the company. It is displayed on notice boards
throughout the organisation and is visible on the company intranet site along
with other relevant Environmental information.
(please
click to view policy .pdf)
From this policy, annual Objectives and Targets are set in the Environmental Business Plan and each functional area have responsibilities within this plan and are required to give evidence that the plan is being supported.
The Environmental Policy, the Objectives and Targets and all other strategic environmental matters are reviewed at the top level Environmental Steering Committee chaired by the Managing Director.
Actions directed from the Steering Committee are coordinated and progressed by the Environmental Action Committee, chaired by the Environmental Manager and made up of representatives of all the functions of the company.
Environmental matters are also prominently on the agendas of most of the local area operational meetings.
Environmental Communication
Part of the key to managing and maintaining a good environmental performance is to ensure that there is a clear, effective and continuous communication.
This needs to be both from the top down and from the bottom up. Good communication needs to engage everyone from shop floor to the boardroom.
All employees undergo initial induction training, which includes and an environmental module and all are included in the specific Environmental Awareness presentation delivered by the Environmental Manager.
There is an environmental input in every newsletter and we use various other methods to get the message across including team talks and mail-shots reminding our employees of their responsibilities and explaining how the business is moving forward.
Looking After Water
Using water wisely not only saves money, but also reduces the demand on a valuable resource. By careful water management and the use of efficient water recycling we can reduce our demand on this resource.
Water Discharge
Our drainage either flows to the west coast via the River Arrow. About two kilometres downstream, there is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), and also a commercial fishery.
To protect our off-site receptors, we have a series of interceptors that capture suspended solids and surface oils to prevent them entering the water system, e.g. dusts from our internal roads that are washed away during heavy rain- storms.
Although we have controls in place to limit our discharges to water, we must maintain our vigilance. In the event of an incident, we have trained personnel within our Company Protection Services to standby to mitigate any further spread. The rivers running through our site are monitored 24 hours a day to check for any possible pollution.
We are authorised under the Environmental Protection Act to make certain discharges into prescribed waters. These discharges are carefully monitored by ourselves and the Environmental Agency to ensure we operate well within the consent limits.
The site is geologically located on coarse-grained Kidderminster sandstone. This is typically water-bearing strata and therefore the consequences of ground pollution are very serious. Such pollution can cause long-term damage and migrates with the underground water flow. We therefore, have very controlled measures to prevent ingress to the valuable underground water resources.
Water Consumption
Some manufacturing processes are significant water users. Water is used for cooling, washing and other processes and needs careful management.
To reduce our water consumption, we have implemented water minimisation schemes covering both the clean water supply and our wastewater discharges.
The site is positioned at the foot of the Lickey Hills and is therefore in a water catchment area and subsequent run-off can be massive.
To help manage the potential for flooding, we have invested in significant riverbank strengthening and other drainage systems to protect our neighbours downstream in the event of heavy rain or a flash flood.
 click to enlarge |
Tales Of The River Bank During January 2002 Powertrain Ltd started work on the first phase of repairs to the River Arrow embankment. This work was then completed in 2003 ensuring that the natural environment of which we value was preserved. On our site we have a pool that acts as an overflow for the neighbouring reservoir. The pool and the small woodland area around it is a natural environment of which we are proud. It is populated a variety of wildlife including badgers, foxes and many fish and birds. |
 click to enlarge |
Protecting The Air We Breathe
We all need air, air that is clean and free of pollutants that could affect our health and well being. We have all read about greenhouse gasses, the depletion of the ozone layer, the problems of vehicle emissions in our town and cities.
How are we controlling our carbon dioxide emissions?
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is a by-product of all fossil fuel based energy using systems, and is a significant contributor to global warming.
We are continuing with an energy management programme and a number of energy conservation measures are pursued in all our areas.
As a company, we have embraced the principles of protecting the climate for future generations and in November 2000 the foundry signed up to the negotiated agreement between Target 2010 (the foundry trade sector) and the UK Government as part of "Climate Change Levy" agreement. This commitment will continue to drive reductions in our energy consumption and, consequently, emissions to the atmosphere. We have agreed to achieve a further reduction in energy use between now and 2010. These longer-term plans will come about with improvements in our processes and changes in technologies.
Since 2000 we have succeeded in making an overall reduction in energy consumption of approximately 8%.
What else are we doing to protect air we breathe?
Our foundry process inevitably produces a certain amount of emissions, but as it is an authorised process under the Environmental Protection Act, Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Regulations. This means that the emissions from all the stacks are closely monitored and controlled to stringent limits set by the Environment Agency.
What about the engines, don’t they cause pollution?
As indicated earlier, by burning any fossil fuel there is the potential for pollution. Powertrain Ltd manufactures both petrol and diesel variants, and all our engines must meet stringent EU and global exhaust gas emission standards.
For many years Powertrain Limited have pioneered clean combustion technology and use of lightweight materials giving our current products class leading performance and economy.
At Powertrain Ltd emissions control technology starts with the base engine design, here we use advanced computer modeling techniques to ensure efficiency is ‘designed in’ to our engines even before the first prototype has been built.
We compliment our advanced engine designs with state of the art electronic engine management systems and exhaust aftertreatment (catalysts) providing emissions performance well below the legislative limits.
Although the use of any vehicle can have potential environmental impact, we are striving to continually improve the performance of our engines, and reduce their impact during use. The fuel consumption of cars fitted with our engines has improved by over 17 per cent in the past 15 years, and the catalyst technology applied to our petrol engines has delivered up to a 90 per cent reduction in emissions.
Powertrain is also able to offer LPG versions of most of our engines. This takes our customers another step further towards being able to select a product that reduces the environment impact.
Our Waste Management Systems
Wherever possible, we continue to use our management processes to reduce waste at source, and to adopt and exploit innovative waste management techniques. The amount of waste we produce has reduced by approximately 30 per cent over the past 10 years. This has largely been due to reduced packaging used on components from our suppliers, and improvements in the painting process. We continually work in collaboration with our suppliers to design and use, where possible, returnable containers.
Also, in line with the Government drive on recycling, our designers are specifying which parts can be made from recycled plastic in vehicle components.
Unfortunately, some waste is unavoidable. We have a policy of segregating this material and this is supported by our recycling centre where we segregate waste into cardboard, paper, polythene, plastic caps and metals. Where the waste is not recyclable our preferred disposal route is incineration with energy recovery, again in line with Government guidelines.
When wastes have to be sent for disposal, we use only licensed contractors who are approved to handle the relevant type of waste.
What are we doing to ensure that our products can be disposed of at the end of their useful life to reduce their environmental impact?
We design and build our engines and transmissions to ensure that with correct servicing and maintenance they will provide years of safe and efficient motoring.
However, all vehicles will eventually need to be disposed of and we are continually improving the recyclability of our cars during design.
During design, we consider the disposability aspect at the ‘end-of-life’ of the vehicle to ensure that it does not become an environmental liability. This entails ensuring that the materials used are not hazardous and that they are easily recycled.
A significant proportion of the environmental impact of vehicle manufacture occurs in the making of components by suppliers.
It is our policy to work in partnership with our suppliers to assess and encourage environmental improvements to help reduce the overall environmental impact of the vehicle manufacture.
Remembering Our Neighbours
We must not forget our neighbours, they are important to us.
Our nearest neighbours share our site boundary, and we are therefore keenly aware of our responsibilities towards them. The potential for noise, dust and fumes from our operations are all potential causes of concern with our neighbours.
We have robust procedures in place to deal with any concern that they may raise. We are aware of our heritage and the goodwill that our neighbours have entrusted to us, and we respond to any concern with diligence and openness.
We have a positive relationship with our neighbours, which, has come about by proactively communications on matters that could affect them.
For enquiries relating to any Powertrain Ltd environmental issues, please email:-
Many thanks.