Selden underlines green commitment with clean energy investment

Selden Research, the UK’s largest independent manufacturer of professional cleaning, maintenance and hygiene solutions, has made a £250,000 investment in solar energy to help power its Buxton factory with pollution-free electricity.

Selden is believed to be the first professional cleaning sector manufacturer to make large-scale use of on-site solar energy. The clean electricity installation, covering almost 1,500m² (1.794 sq yards) of roof space above Selden’s factory, offices and warehouse, is one of the largest in the North of England.

Green electricity generated by sunlight is sufficient to power filling lines for all pouch refills used in Selden’s new environmentally-considerate So System hand care dispensers – enabling zero carbon production of pouch refills for So System foaming soaps, skin cleansers and skin sanitisers.

Super-concentrate pouch refills for Selden’s new controlled-dose IQ dispenser system, designed for large site cleaning and to be launched later this summer, will also run on a zero carbon line.

“As an industry whose products ensure everyone can live and work in a clean environment, our use of on-site clean energy to help make them is a natural step. We hope others will follow our lead,” said Selden sales director Mark Woodhead, who is also current Chairman of the British Cleaning Council.

More than 165 tonnes of CO₂ emissions will be saved every year thanks to the clean electricity generated by the new solar panels which use the latest thin-film technology and high-tech photovoltaic cells to operate in weak daylight and rain as well as strong sunshine.

“Selden’s ongoing commitment to innovation and the environment has been a key part of our success in recent years. We believe continuing to invest like this, even through the hard times, will pay dividends in terms of demonstrating consistent brand values as the economy recovers,” said Mark Woodhead.

“Environmental protection remains a key issue for all of us. Through innovation in both our manufacturing techniques and in our products themselves, Selden has made major contributions in recent years.

“For example, our solar energy outlay follows on from a £1million investment we made in bulk raw ingredient storage tanks to minimise levels of in-bound raw material transportation and associated packaging while our new concentrate product lines require far less packaging and far fewer outward delivery journeys.

“In addition, we’ve reduced production waste by reclaiming and reprocessing chemicals from tank washings. The small amount of washings content that can’t be reclaimed is broken down in our bio-reactor which uses natural processes to biodegrade the residue into water and air,” added Mr. Woodhead.

Selden now produces over 44 million litres of cleaning and hygiene products each year for use by professional industrial and commercial cleaning companies in everything from factories and offices to public sector buildings, schools, hospitals and care homes.

Photovoltaic cells used in the solar panels at Selden’s Derbyshire plant have been produced by Q-Cells, one of the world’s leading solar energy companies, while site installation was undertaken by Preston-based iGen Energy.

For more about Selden, visit www.selden.co.uk