25 November 1998
NISSAN RECEIVES INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL RECOGNITION
Nissan’s manufacturing plant in Sunderland has achieved certification to the international standard for environmental management, ISO14001.
For certification Nissan engineers set improvement objectives to control emissions to the air and water, appropriate management of wastes, efficient use of energy and direct materials, personnel training and most importantly, to continually improve its environmental performance.
The foundation for this continuous improvement is the company’s environmental policy which sets out how the company manufactures motor vehicles and their component parts in an environmentally responsible manner.
A team, led by the Engineering department, has worked towards achieving this standard since August 1997. It has developed an Environmental Management System which is used to manage the effect of the company’s operations on the environment and achieve the necessary continual improvement required for certification.
Barry Wilmer heads the Sunderland plant’s environmental management team. He said: “The aim of the Environmental Management System is to continuously improve our environmental performance. Everyone here at Nissan has a part to play in ensuring the successful operation of this system and to explain it clearly, a booklet has been produced and distributed to all staff.”
Nissan was awarded its certificate by an external agency, which audited the Sunderland plant in September. ISO14001 was introduced in 1996. It is the first of Nissan’s overseas plants to achieve the standard.
Nissan in Sunderland has an excellent record of environmental performance. In 1993 it won a Royal Society of Arts award for making the Micra in an environmentally responsible way.
Some 5,600 people are employed directly by Nissan in the UK. The company’s operations include vehicle styling, engineering, manufacturing, distribution and sales, industrial machinery and finance. Production at the Sunderland plant will be boosted further in 2000, when a third model is introduced. This will lead to the creation of a further 800 jobs and increase Nissan’s investment in the plant to £1.5 billion.
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For further information please contact:
Lesley Alder 0191 419 3300
Stewart McKee 01923 899 930
Editor’s note:
Environmental initiatives that helped Nissan gain certification include:
- saving 3.5 million road miles in the UK
- using water in paint instead of solvent
- creating a feeding ground for wildfowl
- recycling fuel tanks
- removing paint residues by using hot sand
- using almost 100 per cent returnable packaging
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