Sustainability hero - Liniar

Ripley-based firm, Liniar, manufactures sustainable products for the construction industry, including windows, doors, conservatories and fencing. It's therefore part of one of Derbyshire's current growth sectors and has moved up five places this year, to number 55.

Liniar (previously known as HL Plastics) was established in 1974 and has long been at the forefront of sustainable business operations.

In 1994 the company developed its first sustainable product — a fully-recycled, plastic piling range — and that same year also marked the start of its zero operational waste record. Liniar remains a zero production waste facility, meaning that all scrap goes back into the system to create fully or partially recycled uPVC products, including windows, doors, conservatories, fencing, decking and more.

On top of that, the firm also has its own on-site underground water recycling facility — which means it can recycle three billion gallons of water each year — and invests in the latest, energy efficient machinery. Its Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) — the gold standard for measuring manufacturing productivity — is currently calculated at 89.1 (world class) and rising.

These initiatives and others — such as changing HGVs and company vehicles to more energy efficient ones — mean that Liniar reportedly produces 20,000 tonnes less CO2 than typical PVCu manufacturers. In addition, the latest audit of the ISO14001 accreditation (April 2021) showed that Liniar was 53.95% ahead of its Climate Change Agreement target for that quarter.

Innovation 

Cutting-edge product development has always been an important part of Liniar’s philosophy. The company has an in-house, dedicated Design and Development team, two state-of-the-art 3D printers, a testing laboratory and a cycling testing robot. 

This investment in product design has led to multiple firsts and successes, such as:

People and skills

Liniar has also prioritised investing in people. It has a comprehensive apprenticeship programme, which provides skills development opportunities for young people within the community as well as existing staff. The company says its philosophy is to recruit for attitude and invest in training to develop skills. This, it says, results in a proactive, positive team at all levels.