Eco Ellis

Following a large amount of work JT Ellis continue to measure their carbon footprint and have the results independently assessed on an annual basis.  Richard Ellis, joint Managing Director commented, “ We are very pleased to have successfully measured our greenhouse gas emissions and had the results successfully audited to ISO 14064 for our financial year ending 2022 and we continue to have our carbon results independently reviewed on an annual basis.  Carbon reduction is important to us and our customers and we have now established our base line from which to build our carbon reduction plans”.

Ellis employs around 200 people in a mix of manufacturing and office-based roles which are sustainable and long-term, and we are an important part of the local community.

Our factory is close to the centre of Huddersfield, enabling many of our staff to car share, use public transport, walk, or cycle to work.

Our strategy is to maintain the long-term employment of local people in the business. We have long-serving employees, many of whom have been with the company since leaving education.

Our primary raw material supplier is Egger UK, based in Hexham, which means that most of our supply elements come from within a radius of just 150 miles. 40% of an EGGER chipboard panel is made using recycled wood which is the core of our carcases and 100% of the boards are recyclable. 

• We have FSC® certification and our license number is FSC-C007190 and our certificate code is TT-COC-002375

• All timber-based materials, where possible, are procured as FSC® certified.

• All MFC residential ranges can be ordered as FSC® certified if required.

• Please contact us and ask us about our range of FSC® certified products.

During manufacturing, we use chipboard, veneers, solid woods, timber structural rails and edgings, all of which are easily recyclable. All wood offcuts that cannot be ‘repurposed’ are sent to Egger to be recycled into the new particleboard. All our sawdust is collected and taken away by local farmers for animal bedding.

 Our in-house spray paint line uses low-volatility water-based paints (low in VOC).

Our Environmental Management System is certified to ISO:14001, partially due to us achieving annual targets and environmental objectives which are set by DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs) but also as a result of the company’s ethos for sustainability and environmental protection. These measurable targets are for the waste materials and by-products produced at each stage of our production process and we are always looking to develop and set ourselves ‘green’ objectives.

We currently recycle 95% of our waste which is segregated before removal from site for recycling. We have safety procedures in place to control waste disposal and spillage, and our waste removal contractors are registered with our Local Authority.

Our production systems have in-built computer optimisation of materials, so wastage is kept to an absolute minimum. Where possible, offcuts are reused on the products, positioned so that they are not visible, such as fixing back rails for wardrobes.

We work to 2 yearly target levels set by DEFRA which are progressively more challenging.  Our factory employs low-energy motion sensor lighting alongside intelligent heating and extraction systems that only operate according to demand to reduce wasted energy.  

A crucial part of our environmental policy is a programme of energy-saving measures with electrical usage being one of our highest costs.  We identified dust extraction as a major source of electricity consumption and embarked on significant investment to upgrade and optimize the 12 extraction fans in the factory.  Energy savings were impressive with a massive 20% reduction in the total factory spend and no incentive was received towards the cost of this project.

 Additional energy-saving projects carried out over the last 10 years include:

• Installing low-energy motion sensor lighting

• Led lighting replacement

• An intelligent heating system that can be regulated and controlled through a laptop

• Variable speed compressor installations continuously alter a unit's motor speed to match the required output.

We predominantly use cardboard to wrap our furniture for delivery and wastage is kept to an absolute minimum. Cardboard has taken over from the use of plastic bubble wrap, after significant investment in cardboard packing machinery.

After installation, any cardboard packaging can be segregated on-site for recycling by our customers. We are registered under the Packaging Producers Responsibility Regulations, and we conduct annual audits to comply with the regulations.

We see a long product lifecycle as the key to sustainability.

Because of the use of unique construction methods such as glue and double-dowelled assembly, our products have a very long lifespan.

Our furniture is designed so that key parts such as drawers and door fronts are easily replaced transforming the look at a far lower cost and environmental impact than a full replacement.

Our products have the LONGEST lifecycle in residential accommodation, and this leaves us and the organisations we supply with the smallest environmental footprint possible.

Ellis has a fleet of 15 trucks and 40 delivery boxes, all Euro6 compliant, using low-sulphur diesel fuel.  They are all maintained by local modern HGV dealerships that carry out servicing at 8-weekly intervals.

We deliver throughout the UK on a weekly basis. Most of our bought-out items, which are all UK-manufactured - sofas, metal bedframes, etc. are collected by our vehicles on their return trips, thereby reducing emissions and operating economically.

We've invested in world-class multi-million-pound machinery to increase our MFC production and reduce waste by nearly 50%. We've achieved this through optimized panel production and intelligent use of leftover parts, leading to fewer remakes because of improved quality.

The result is greener and more sustainable production.

To find out more about our new investment, follow the link at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jKr_3HGnic.