Vicinay Sestao
Preparation of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) in mooring products
As part of its quest for environmental excellence, Vicinay Cadenas has adopted Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) as a communicative tool for reporting on the environmental performance of its mooring products. Thanks to this type- III eco-label, the company is aware of the environmental impact of its mooring products throughout their entire life cycle. This information is certi?ed by the International EPD® System, which is run by the Swedish Environmental Management Council and is regarded as one of the most prestigious EPD systems in the world.
The chains and shackles (H and D, R4, R4S and R5) for which environmental product declarations have been drawn up and certi?ed, constitute the most technologically-advanced products in the industry and, by extension, the most innovative in terms of their design and development.
Today, Vicinay Cadenas has six certi?ed EPDs. In the process of obtaining these, they have achieved important results, such as reducing
their ecological footprint by 40%, and reducing their CO2 emissions by 1,200 tonnes in just one year, both of which constitute huge energy savings.Sustainable Building in the new business headquarters of Vicinay Cadenas
Vicinay Cadenas has designed the new building which will house the ?rm's future headquarters, in the municipality of Sestao (Bizkaia), following sustainable building criteria. The building will house a new production bay, as well as storage and ancillary service areas.
Some of the most important environmental improvements introduced in the pavilion will be those of energy savings and noise control. The exterior of the building will be designed with absorption panels which generate very little waste and provide great insulation, which will reduce the consumption of energy and avoid any adverse impact on the surrounding environment. Constructive measures have also been taken, aimed at reducing the noise to which employees are subjected. The building's natural light will be achieved using north-facing skylights which also provide excellent acoustic insulation.
The hot-water production system will consist of a low-emission condensing boiler, which will be complimented by a solar thermal system. The building will be equipped with meters and equipment to measure consumption. Similarly, a rainwater collection system has been developed for watering the gardens and for use in cleaning operations. Financial considerations have also been taken into account when adopting these measures, focusing on both direct savings and also on the money that will be eventually recouped as a result of introducing the measures.
Product category rules (PCR) for steel products
As Vicinay Cadenas needed an appropriate benchmark standard for its products to certify Environmental Product Declarations (EPD), with the help of the Basque Ecodesign Center, it embarked on a project aimed at drafting and approving an EPD certi?cation scheme for Product Category Rules (PCR) for steel ?nished products.
The selected certi?cation scheme was the “International EPD System – Environdec” as Vicinay Cadenas had been operating under it up until then.
The scope of the new PCR covers “Fabricated steel products, excluding construction products” and its code is UN CPC 422 & 429, based on the Environdec international system.
Following a two-month consultation period, and after successfully passing the technical committee’s review, the PCR published the system on its website on 23 May 2014 and it is fully in forced and therefore available as the basis for EPD certi?cation".
Vicinay Cadenas renews its Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs)
Vicinay Cadenas has completed the process to prepare its new Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) based on the new Product Category Rules (PCR) relating to “Fabricated steel products, excluding construction products” (UN CPC 422 and 429 code), and which were prepared and published during 2014 with the support of the Basque Ecodesign Center.
In the same way as in the ?rst version of these declarations, the system selected by Vicinay Cadenas was the International EPD System developed by Environdec.
Vicinay Cadenas has thus included the whole of its product range in the same declarations, which positions the company at the international forefront in the use of this environmental information and transparency certi?cate.
New environmental product
declarations prepared by Vicinay Cadenas