As part of our ongoing commitment to supporting STEM students, recently, we welcomed some bright-eyed, ambitious A-Level Chemistry students from some local schools and sixth form colleges to HQ.

The students from St Nicholas Catholic High School, Sir John Deane’s Sixth Form College, Sandbach High School and Sixth Form College and Tarporley High School and Sixth Form College were challenged to come up with ideas to reduce their school’s carbon footprint.

Working in partnership with The Pledge Cheshire and Warrington, whose aim is to bridge the gap between education and the world of work, we asked the A-Level pupils to calculate the carbon footprint of their school or college, considering things such as lighting, heating and transport, and then come up with ideas on how they could reduce it. Some stand-out ideas included:

• Switching the schools paper supply (over half a million sheets) to paper made from limestone which has a far lower environmental impact.
• Educating younger students on the impact they can have on climate change through art workshops using recycled materials.
• Switching the school canteen to plates, which are washed and reused, rather than disposable trays.
• Reducing the amount of meat on the menu.
• Encouraging school bus companies to switch to electric vehicles.
• Installing smart radiator valves to control classroom temperatures.
• Raising awareness and changing behaviours to encourage students and staff to turn off lighting and heating and to recycle more.
• Changing the network settings to put computers into sleep mode more quickly.
• Planting trees on school grounds to improve biodiversity.
• Upgrading school buildings and windows to improve energy performance.
• Installing solar panels.
• Switching all of the school’s lights to LED bulbs.

As well as a visit to our ground-breaking carbon capture and utilisation plant, the students also listened to our MD Martin Ashcroft who discussed the practical applications of what they were learning. Abi Lee and Tom Murphy from our energy team also kindly gave up their time to inspire the students with their own individual career journeys.

THE RESULTS…

Our judging panel found it really hard to choose just one team as it was clear that so much thought and effort had gone into all four of the presentations. However, the judging panel decided that the team from Sir John Deane’s College had really hit the brief. Each member won a £50 Amazon voucher and everyone who took part got a £10 Amazon voucher.

Grainne Patterson, Learning & Development Manager, facilitated the whole day and said “It was so rewarding to see the students engaged in the topic and eager to learn more about our company and the opportunities available here at TCE. I was really impressed with their initial ideas which they came up with for their carbon footprint project and look forward to hearing all about their projects when they return next month to deliver their presentations.”

Martin Ashcroft, Managing Director of TCE said: “When we were asked to become part of the A-Level Carbon Footprint Project with our local A-Level Chemistry students we jumped at the opportunity, not least because we have been involved in our own journey to Net Zero for over 20 years.

“We were proud to be able to show the students our new Carbon Capture Utilisation (CCU) plant, and to hopefully give them some inspiration in coming up with their own ideas on reducing their school’s carbon footprint.”

Here at TCE we are committed to supporting local schools, encouraging STEM students and helping them to bring their curriculum to life. We’re excited to start planning more events and competitions for local students to get involved in. Watch this space!

Tata Chemicals Europe (“TCE”) and Wincanton, a leading supply chain partner for UK business, have signed a 10-year warehousing and logistics contract. The long-term partnership confirms Wincanton’s integral role in supporting TCE’s strategic growth plans, which include a UK-first from British Salt Limited – TCE’s high purity salt manufacturing business.

The leading supply chain partner will manage TCE’s new state-of-the-art 185,000 sq ft warehouse at British Salt’s site in Middlewich – which is set for completion in late summer 2023 – and from the autumn of 2023 will commence handling the logistics and distribution of all of TCE’s palletised, packed sodium bicarbonate and salt products.

From 2024, British Salt will become the UK’s first producer of pharmaceutical grade salt, which will be used for medications such as oral rehydration salts and life-saving haemodialysis treatment. This new pharmaceutical salt business will complement TCE’s existing, globally significant, pharmaceutical sodium bicarbonate business, and will benefit from TCE’s years of experience of the highly regulated pharmaceutical sector.

TCE’s packed pharmaceutical grade salt and sodium bicarbonate pharmaceutical products, along with food-grade salt and sodium bicarbonate, will be warehoused in the cutting-edge, highly controlled, new facility. The warehouse will be accredited to BRC and the MHRA standards, along with all relevant SHEQ accreditations. Wincanton will operate the new warehouse, ensuring that these stringent regulatory conditions are met for storing products used in the pharmaceutical and food industries.

By implementing its ‘best in class’ technology solutions, Wincanton will deliver sustainable value for TCE. Manhattan, a world-leading leading warehouse management system, will be deployed to enhance visibility and stock control, supporting TCE’s ongoing drive for exceptional customer service.

The usage of Wincanton’s Transport Control Tower technology will increase supply chain resilience, helping TCE optimise costs and support the reduction of transport-related CO2 emissions.

Wincanton will manage packed product distribution services for TCE and British Salt customers based both in the UK and internationally: the UK-made high grade, high purity products are distributed to over 60 countries across the globe.

Building on day-to-day operational excellence, the partnership will also drive innovation and diversification. Working together, both parties will collaborate closely to further enhance efficient, customer-oriented operations of warehousing and logistics.

Carl Meewezen, MD for Public and Industrial at Wincanton, said of the partnership:

“We are delighted to have been chosen as a trusted, long-term supply chain partner by Tata Chemicals Europe & British Salt to drive forward its exciting growth plans. This contract is a significant milestone for our Public and Industrial business and is testament to the strength, breadth, and quality of our services.

“We look forward to supporting Tata Chemicals Europe to enhance their customer service and also innovating to help unlock significant productivity and efficiency gains for Tata Chemicals Europe & British Salt over the coming decade.”

Angus Vause, Sales & Marketing Director of Tata Chemicals Europe added:

“With the opening of the new warehouse and new pharma grade salt manufacturing plant, we wanted to ensure that our chosen logistics partner would help us to deliver high quality customer service to match our high quality products. In Wincanton – with their warehouse and supply chain operational excellence – we have found an organisation that will help us do just that, supporting the journey to take our operations to the next level. Our customer relationships are paramount, and we will communicate full details of the change in storage facility well in advance, ensuring a seamless transition to the new warehouse.”

TATA Chemicals Europe (“TCE”) has announced their sponsorship of St Luke’s (Cheshire) Hospice’s Twilight Walk event. The 10-kilometre torchlight walk will take place on 25th March in Delamere Forest and will raise valuable funds for the hospice that provides precious palliative care for local people.

When TCE were approached to use the Carbon Capture Plant (CCU) as a backdrop for the filming of a prime-time TV drama series, they couldn’t resist it as an opportunity raise funds for a good cause. As long-time supporter of St Luke’s, TCE have used the fee paid by the production company to cover all the costs relating to the hospice’s Twilight Walk event. The fee from filming, which saw crowds of cast and crew descend on Northwich for the day, adds to the total figure of £65,000 already raised by TCE for St Luke’s in recent times.

Phil Davies, General Counsel & Compliance Director says of the venture: “When we decided to support St Luke’s as our “Charity of the Year” a few years ago, we were struck by just how many of our people came forward to tell us about their personal experiences of the hospice. We didn’t need St Luke’s to tell us how amazing their work is – our own people came forward to share their stories of how the hospice as helped so many of them and their families during difficult moments. Our relationship with St Luke’s has grown over the years, and we are very proud to know many of the St Luke’s team, and to support their fantastic work. We have done lots of team challenges for and with St Luke’s, including the National Three Peaks, the Sandstone Trail, and the Cheshire Ring so we jumped at the chance to sponsor the Twilight Walk at Delamere, and get our boots on again for this amazing cause!”

L-R: Pauline Yould, Karen Lounds & Andy Bailey

Andy Bailey, Corporate Partnerships Manager for St Luke’s adds: “We’re delighted that Tata Chemicals Europe have agreed to be the exclusive sponsor of our Twilight Walk. By covering all of our costs to stage the event, it means that 100% of participants entry fees plus any donations they raise will go directly to our clinical team, allowing us to provide care and support to local people and their families at a time in their lives when they need it most.

Right now, we are prioritising our Hospice at Home service, which sees our nurses delivering care to our most vulnerable patients in the comfort of their own homes, and our Dementia Carers Workshops which are proving a real lifeline to families learning to manage and support a relative living with the condition. All of our services remain free of charge, and we can only do this with the help of local people and local businesses like Tata. Not only are Tata Chemicals Europe supporting the event financially, but staff are also helping to steward the course, run the raffle and of course many are taking part.”

Despite being part of a large global company, TCE has always taken an active role in supporting its local community. In fact, the organisation is set to announce a new community funding scheme, where twice a year local good causes can apply for a grant from the business.

The charity is close to the hearts of many at TCE and, as well as sponsoring the event, they are providing free head torches to every walker, hosting a raffle and even providing volunteers. The family event will see walkers enjoy a silent disco, s’mores cooked over firepits and more. All are welcome to take part.

For more information on the event or to sign up to take part head to: https://www.slhospice.co.uk/events/twilightwalk/

Find out more about the amazing work that St Luke’s do: https://www.slhospice.co.uk/

For more information about TCE: https://www.tatachemicalseurope.com/

Today TATA officially opened the UK’s first industrial scale carbon capture and usage plant, signalling a key milestone in the race to meet the UK’s net zero targets.

The £20 million investment has been completed by Northwich-based Tata Chemicals Europe, one of Europe’s leading producers of sodium carbonate, salt and sodium bicarbonate. The plant captures 40,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year – the equivalent to taking over 20,000 cars off the roads and reduces TCE’s carbon emissions by more than 10%. The project will help unlock the future of carbon capture in the UK as it demonstrates the viability of the technology to remove carbon dioxide from power plant emissions and to use it in high end manufacturing applications.

In a world-first, carbon dioxide captured from energy generation emissions is being purified to food and pharmaceutical grade and used as a raw material in the manufacture of sodium bicarbonate which will be known as Ecokarb®. This unique and innovative process is patented in the UK with further patents pending in key territories around the world.

Ecokarb® will be exported to over 60 countries around the world, generating tens of millions of export revenue every year. Much of the sodium bicarbonate exported will be used in haemodialysis to treat people living with kidney disease.

The carbon capture plant, which was supported with a £4.2m grant through the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s (“BEIS”) Energy Innovation Programme, marks a major step towards sustainable manufacturing which will see TCE make net zero sodium bicarbonate and one of the lowest carbon footprint sodium carbonate products in the world.

The manufacturer is the only business in the UK to make these products which are used to make essential items in everyday life, from glass, washing detergents and pharmaceuticals to food, animal feed and water purification.

Martin Ashcroft, Managing Director of Tata Chemicals Europe, said: “The completion of the carbon capture and utilisation (“CCU”) demonstration plant enables us to reduce our carbon emissions, whilst securing our supply of high purity carbon dioxide, a critical raw material, helping us to grow the export of our pharmaceutical grade products across the world.

“With the support of our parent company, Tata Chemicals, and BEIS, we have been able to deliver this hugely innovative project, enabling our UK operations to take a major step in our carbon emissions reduction journey. Since 2000 we’ve reduced our carbon intensity by 50% and have a clear roadmap to reduce this by 80% by 2030.

“This project is a great example of business and Government together rising to the challenge of decarbonising energy intensive industrial manufacturing. The innovation to create this unique process is a major step forwards in the green industrial revolution and has been recognised by the award of a UK patent and patents pending in key territories across the world for the process.”

Speaking at the opening of the plant, Mike Amesbury, MP for Weaver Vale said: “Manufacturing has been key to this area for over 150 years so it’s great to be part of such an historic moment. Even though, today, there are many competing agendas, sustainability is still crucial and we must continue working towards Net Zero.

“The investment made by Tata Chemicals Europe in this leading-edge carbon capture plant will not only support the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions here, but it will also pave the way for others to use this technology. Tata Chemicals Europe helps support over 1000 jobs so this type of sustainable investment will help secure chemical manufacturing in Cheshire for future generations.”

Speaking about the opening of the plant, Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said: “This cutting-edge plant, backed by £4.2 million government funding, demonstrates how carbon capture is attracting new private capital into the UK and is boosting new innovation in green technologies.

“We are determined to make the UK a world-leader in carbon capture, which will help us reduce emissions and be a key part of the future of British industry.”

Already generating heat and electricity from one of the most efficient combined heat and power plants in the UK, TCE now produces half the amount of carbon dioxide per kilowatt of electricity generated compared to a typical gas fired power station.[1]

Martin Ashcroft added: “Our plant is really important in demonstrating the viability of the technology required to remove carbon dioxide from power plant emissions, helping to de-risk potentially larger investments in the future.

“Today marks a key development in our low carbon transition helping to develop more sustainable manufacturing techniques that can be applied at a global level.

“It also highlights our commitment to provide long-term, high quality jobs in our local communities which is a key part of our modern industrial strategy as we work towards a net zero economy.”

[1] Based on calculations using electricity generated by TCE and on the UK electricity network in 2020.

British Salt has this week fired up two new boilers for the first time at the manufacturing site on Cledford Lane in Middlewich. Almost exactly 12 months on from the day Middlewich town centre stopped to watch a giant convoy with two 90 tonne boilers being carefully moved through the streets, British Salt’s major £8m project is nearing completion.

Likened to a heart transplant operation by Project Manager Stewart Prentice, the boilers are the beating heart of British Salt’s manufacturing process, providing steam used to generate electricity to power the site and the heat required for the salt making process. The new boilers replace those installed nearly 50 years ago when the site was first built. Far more energy efficient, they will lower emissions from the plant below current and future regulatory standards, producing less than half the NOx emissions and reducing the carbon footprint of the site.

Since the delivery in November 2019, the project team has been hard at work installing the boilers with state-of-the-art control systems that will make their operation highly automated. Despite coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic, progress on the project continued over the spring and summer. Working closely with over 20 contractors, many drawn locally from Cheshire and Merseyside, the team has implemented new methods of working to ensure that social distancing measures could be observed.

In the past week, the project team lit the boilers for the first time and started testing steam production as part of a carefully managed programme. The testing involves producing steam at lower volumes and building up to full operational levels to prove the new heart of the plant is ready to take the load without missing a beat. Once ready, the manufacturing plant will then switch over from the old plant, which will be on standby for a period of time to provide back up.

The £8m investment sanctioned by British Salt’s parent company, Tata Chemicals Europe, is the largest single investment in the plant since it was first built in 1969. With an operational life of 30 years, the new boilers have secured the future of salt production in the area for the foreseeable future, supporting hundreds of local jobs. The story does not end there though as Tata Chemicals Europe and British Salt are working on plans for further exciting investments in the plant as demand for high purity salt products continues to be strong from customers across the world.

Projects Director, Ladan Iravanian, said: “2020 has been a really challenging year to deliver projects as the pandemic has disrupted normally stable supply chains and meant we’ve had to find new ways of working. Despite this, our project team and our contractors have worked extremely hard to ensure we deliver this major investment. It’s great to see the testing of the new boiler plant kick-off and we’re excited to integrate the new plant into our existing manufacturing operations.

“We are now looking to the future again and considering how we can how we can invest in our British Salt operations to meet global demand for our high quality, high purity salt products.”

This story featured in the Winsford and Middlewich Guardian on the 7th November 2020 and can also be seen here: https://www.winsfordguardian.co.uk/news/18853257.british-salt-fires-middlewichs-new-8-million-boilers/