Ballarat community and environment
Community involvement
At Ballarat Plaster Specialists (formerly Ballarat Associated Fibrous Plasters), we are proud to be an active member of the local Ballarat community. We are currently the major sponsor of the Lake Wendouree Football Netball Club which competes in the Ballarat Football League. We also provide support for Midlands Golf Club and the local SES.
We actively support local sporting and volunteer organisations to assist them in providing their vital services to the local community.
Environmental credentials
Ballarat Plaster Specialists is committed to a sustainable future within the building industry. Together with our major supply partners we believe that environmental considerations form an extremely important part of our work practices and product choices.
Our new warehouse in Learmonth Road has used the high value insulation qualities of Unitex Base Boards to clad the administration area as well as special glazing designed to comply with the Building Codes of Australia (BCA) requirements. All lighting is energy efficient and long lasting, as are the heating/cooling systems.
We are also implementing a waste-minimisation program where on-site and warehouse wastes are sorted into recyclable and non-recyclable matter. Our major plasterboard supplier, Boral Plasterboard is very aware of the impact its business has on carbon emissions and the environment.
In one initiative, it has developed a system called the Boral Sustainability Diagnostic Tool (BSDT) which it uses to measure its performance in adopting business practices which are consistent with sustainable development. As the following table indicates, Boral measures its environmental performance and has set goals to achieve.
| Our Goals/Targets | Our Performance in FY2008 | Current BSDT score |
|---|---|---|
| Energy Conservation and Climate Change: Reduce emissions per unit and offset Boral’s increases in absolute emissions as a result of market demand growth. | CO2-e emissions up 1% on last year to 3.79 million tonnes. | 2.8 |
| Water Conservation, Extraction and Protection: Reduce mains water consumption. | Mains water used down 4.6% on last year to 2,820 million litres. | 2.9 |
| Waste and Resource Management, Recycling and Re-use: Minimise waste from our operations and increase waste re-used and recycled. | Re-used or recycled between 43% and 100% of Boral’s operations’ production waste. Estimated 5.6 million tonnes of waste and by-products recycled or re-used up 4% on FY07. | 3.0 |
| Land protection, Remediation and Rehabilitation: Where possible, rehabilitation is part of ongoing resource extraction operations. Remediate contaminated sites to standards internationally acceptable for the site purpose. | Ongoing maturing of quarry end use activities, i.e. Deer Park quarry landfill operation, now a waste business with a landfill gas off-take. Majority of contaminated sites completed by 2003. | 3.0 |
| Environment and Ecosystem Protection: Protect and, where possible, enhance biodiversity values at and around our facilities. | 15,050 trees/stems planted and 63,700 m2 weeded and regenerated through Living Green Projects. | 2.9 |
Bradford insulation uses 80% recycled material in their glasswool insulation products. Other major suppliers are also committed to improving their environmental performance, including:
- Autex, manufacturer of polyester insulation, is currently having its environmental management policy independently assessed with a view to achieving ISO14001 – Environmental Management.
- Armstrong Ceiling Systems has been certified as “environmentally preferable” by Good Environmental Choice Australia (GECA) and have initiated the “Reclaim – Recycle – Reuse” program in Australia and New Zealand.