JC Atkinson, the leading independent manufacturer of coffins, caskets and urns and winner of The Sunday Time Best Green Company Award in 2008, has made it easier for customers to make environmentally-informed choices by bringing together all of its products that are plastic-free into dedicated new literature and various areas of their website.
In recent times, we have been encouraged by renewed interest in the environment by the media and the public in recent times and, having carried out a full environmental audit, the company premises themselves incorporate many environmentally friendly features such as rainwater harvesting saving over 200,000 litres of water a year and a biomass heat system that utilises wood coffin off-cuts, sawdust and shavings as fuel (biomass) for heating, a 250Kw solar farm generating around 30% of power and LED lighting. However, the business realised much of the products they offer, whilst plastic free, are not necessarily labelled as such and certainly not grouped together.
And whilst JC Atkinson has a number of stringent environmental accreditations to its name, such as the ISO 14001 standard, which is the internationally recognised standard for the environmental management of businesses and the Forest Stewardship Council® certification for its production facility, which enables it to use the Forest Stewardship Council® logo on products to reassure customers that these products have come from sources that do not further damage the environment, they had no such label for plastic free products.
Greg Cranfield, Managing Director explains: “ The awards we have won and the accreditation’s we have achieved show how we manage our environmental impact with regards to the manufacturing of products but are only part of what the business does. We have now pulled together all the appropriate products from our various product ranges to help customers make informed choices if they want to opt for plastic free. These include our cardboard, willow, woven, picture and woodland coffins, caskets, and urns amongst others. It is of note that no new products were developed for this initiative as all had existed previously. They just had not been promoted as a plastic free option for consumers, but they are now. ”
For a look through what’s available in Plastic Free, visit www.coffins.co.uk/country-range