Around the world, environmental issues continue to climb up the agenda. In October former US vice president Al Gore was awarded a Nobel Prize for his campaigning work on global warming. In the same month the Communist Party of China, at its 17th five-yearly Congress, committed itself to addressing mass pollution and putting the country’s rapid development onto a more ecologically sustainable footing.
The environmental imperatives vary from country to country and region to region. In the big cities of the world, the big issue is clean air. In small, populous countries, like the UK, there is a compelling need to reduce the amount of waste that is buried in landfill as all available sites are filling up. Elsewhere, such as the Middle East, the big issue is conservation of scarce water resources. Universally, with oil prices rocketing and fossil fuels a finite commodity, the thrust is towards renewable energy sources and more efficient use of power. And then there is the really big issue: the debate over long-term global warming.
Citizens of the world are all increasingly being asked to do their part; reduce, re-use, recycle is the mantra. So how are crane hire companies fulfilling their environmental obligations? What efforts are they taking to reduce their carbon footprint?
Cranes Today undertook a survey of a dozen major rental companies. Much of what we found is driven either by customer demands or by economic issues. Environmentally responsible waste management is often the most economic; recycling water can also reduce costs; energy efficient machinery reduces fuel bills. However, whatever the motive, the carbon footprint of the crane hire industry certainly seems to be reducing. Here is what we found.
USA
As a nation, the USA appears to have a conflicted attitude to environmental issues. On the one hand, we have President George Bush being slow to acknowledge that global warming may be related to human behaviour. On the other hand, we have Arnold Schwarzenegger, a fellow Republican and Governor of California, taking radical steps to clean up his state.
On the east coast, crane rental company AmQuip is “a community and environmentally sensitive company that tries to be a leader in safety and environmental policy throughout our organization,” says its president, Frank Bardonaro. “We believe that our company philosophy involves always doing the right thing, which has positive effects from the employee to the environment and, ultimately, to the customer.”
AmQuip has a written environmental policy. When working on cranes it uses spill kits to prevent oil leaks contaminating groundwater. On certain cranes it has fitted engine emission filters to reduce the amount of harmful particulates entering the atmosphere. All oils, metals, batteries, paper, cardboard and toner and ink cartridges are recycled, Bardonaro says.
In response to a demand from a customer, AmQuip has established an environmental management system based on ISO 14001. “This system is constantly maintained and third party audited every three years,” says Bardonaro.
Southern crane and rigging firm Barnhart does not have a specific written policy statement, although it does consider “protection of people, property and environment” one of its core corporate values, says Jeff Latture, senior vice-president. Barnhart has programmes specific to environmental protection, including: the use of spill kits; hazardous waste collection, labelling and disposal; an emergency response programme; and a storage system for hazardous material such as fuel, lubricants and paint.
Latture says: “Traditionally customers have asked for very little beyond hazardous material handling programs. However, this is changing as customers ask for more of a corporate programme, complete with evidence of compliance. This trend is new and we are working to create an appropriate programme to demonstrate our existing commitment and procedures.
Latture says that Barnhart has yet to be convinced of the benefits of going beyond the existing regulations, as they relate to its machine fleet, so while alternative fuel and lubricant types such as biodiesel [see p63] are not yet used, this could change in the future, he recognises. “As environmental impact becomes more of a personal issue, we are beginning to consider fuel type, fuel efficiency and other items to reduce our demand and impact,” he says.
Lampson International says it strictly adheres to the environmental agenda set down by its customers. “We normally work under the environmental policy of the general contractor or owner we are working for on a project. We are committed to environmental protection and maintain strict compliance at our facilities,” says quality manager Bruce Stemp.
Australia
Gillespie Crane Services is one of Australia’s leading mobile crane rental companies. It has a written environmental policy within its 48-page site management plan which also addresses health and safety and quality management.
The environment policy begins: “Gillespie Cranes Services is committed to the development and implementation of an effective environmental policy and recognise the value of the environment to the community and future generations. Areas that Gillespie Cranes will pay major attention to (but won’t be limited to) are waste management, recycling and water conservation.” The company has four main criteria for environmental protection. They are:
• Impact on the physical and biological environment
• Contribution to innovation and definition of best environmental practice
• Compliance with statutory requirements and other environmental commitments
• Availability of resources.
Clients regularly require the company to show evidence of its commitment to the environment, says project manager Reg Eggleton. “We usually do it through our safe work method statements and customers audits,” he says.
Gillespie has a recycling programme, he says, and uses captured rainwater to wash its machinery. It also manages substance control on site and in its yards using spill kits and has waste separators in its wash bays.
Eggleton adds: “We endeavour to keep our fleet age at five years to keep up with the best technology and noise emissions. We also have a high-level maintenance program to maximise engine efficacy. We do not use bio diesel or lubricants at this stage as they are not widely available in Australia.”
UAE
Dubai-based Al Faris Equipment Rentals works regularly for major international companies in the oil industry like BP, Schlumberger and Halliburton and is therefore regularly subjected to intensive customer audits. Brian Green, heavy cranes manager, says: “As a company working with major players in the oil and gas industry, Al Faris is committed to the future: not only buying the latest environmentally-friendly mobile cranes, but we think as a company it’s what you do with the equipment when you are at the workplace or in your workshop.”
For example, Al Faris has a waste segregation strategy. The wash bay system in its yard uses storage tanks above ground to prevent contamination of groundwater in event of leak. A chemical injection system breaks down oil in the water, enabling it to be re-used many times and the system is serviced every two weeks.
Spill trays and spill kits are used while servicing and repairing cranes. Spill kits and oil filters are crushed before disposal to drain out the oil and reduce their size before being sent to authorised waste disposal companies.
Synthetic oil is used to reduce service intervals and reduce waste oil disposal.
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“Jeff Latture, Barnhart” |
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Traditionally customers have asked for very little beyond hazardous material handling programs. However, this is changing as customers ask for more of a corporate programme, complete with evidence of compliance. This trend is new and we are working to create an appropriate programme to demonstrate our existing commitment and procedures. |
Germany
Breuer & Wasel has a management system in place that covers environmental issues as well as health and safety. The system is third-party certified by SCC (Sicherheits Certifikat Contraktoren). The company says that customers in the chemical industry require a certificate of environmental management.
Breuer & Wasel also uses diesel particulate filters to reduce particulate emissions from equipment as well as noise reducing features. Biodiesel and biolubricants [see p61] are not used currently but have recently come under consideration.
France
Mediaco, the dominant force in France’s mobile crane hire industry, beats all other surveyed companies in at least one respect: directors and branch managers drive hybrid cars.
Environmental responsibility is a core part of Mediaco’s health, safety, quality and environment policy and the large industrial groups that make up much of Mediaco’s customer base have strict demands that their suppliers demonstrate respect for the environment.
Consequently, Mediaco has a policy to manage, segregate and limit all waste and effluents. Spill kits are used to prevent groundwater contamination. All personnel are made aware of the environmental implications of their actions and are encouraged to minimise consumption of resources such as water, paper and energy. Cranes are fitted with GPS systems to avoid wasted travel and so minimise fuel consumption.
Denmark
BMS, Denmark’s largest mobile crane hire company, has been something of a trailblazer within the crane industry in recent years, demonstrating a commitment to the environment that is well above average.
BMS is DS/OHSAS 18001 certified, although few customers, apart from the refineries, care enough about the issue to ask, says managing director Søren Jansen, regretfully. Within this certification are various environmental initiatives, including segregating different types of waste before disposing through only companies holding an ISO 14001 or DS/OHSAS 18001 certificate and only using the most environmentally benign chemicals wherever available: regardless of price, Jansen says.
“When Statoil introduced a more expensive and cleaner diesel fuel, ‘Miljø diesel’, several years ago,, we converted to this fuel immediately in order to reduce diesel emissions from our cranes, aerial platforms and trucks,” he says. “We experimented with diesel particulate filters three or four years ago, and installed them on five cranes. We planned on installing these filters on all future machines. However, the manufacturer went broke and the project died, much to our regret. We have tried, without luck, to persuade some crane manufacturers that diesel particulate filters should be standard, or at least an option, on cranes. I am sure that legislation—national, European or international—will have them reconsider this issue again. We are now seeing that various cities across Denmark are planning steps to further reduce diesel emissions. Within the next couple of years, it will no longer be allowed for trucks to enter certain cities unless they have a diesel particulate filtration system installed.”
UK
A ban on trucks with dirty engines may be on its way in the next couple of years in Denmark, but in London such a law comes into for from February 2008. The local government of London also has an initiative to reduce emissions form machinery on construction site by making filters compulsory.
Ainscough Crane Hire, the country’s leading mobile crane rental company, has a detailed written environmental policy and works regularly for the sort of large companies that have their own stringent policies in place and regularly conduct audits of their suppliers.
“As the first crane hire company in the UK to be awarded the ISO 14001 accreditation, environmental awareness is very important to us,” says engineering director Steve Cooke.
All cranes have spill kits, used tyres are sent for recycling and almost all hazardous waste is recycled.
Ainscough started using the HazTech service of waste dispoal company OSS Group in 2006, which recovered 96.35% of Ainscough’s hazardous waste in the first year from its 26 depots.
Tower crane rental company HTC Plant says that most clients require it to complete a safety, health, environment and quality (SHEQ) questionnaire before contracts begin. Like Ainscough, HTC is ISO 14001 accredited and has a written environment policy. This includes a commitment to “promote a culture of conservation through training” and training for all employees “in environmental awareness to enable procedures to be followed to encourage the creation of an environmentally aware workforce”.
Andy Walker, HTC’s SHEQ manager, says: “As an ISO 14001 registered company HTC Plant are committed to reducing our impact on the environment using a stringent purchasing policy to ensure less waste is produced, waste is segregated for recycling reducing the amount of material sent to landfill and we are constantly investigating further measures to reduce our carbon footprint in the future.”
Another tower crane rental company, Arcomet UK, points out that electric-powered tower cranes are intrinsically environmentally friendly since they reduce or eliminate vehicle movements, with all the associated noise and engine emissions. When fitted with inverter drives, as is increasingly standard, their energy efficiency is improved and so further reduce carbon footprint.
Like others, Arcomet UK has an environment policy within its health and safety policy. But where Arcomet is going further is in the sphere of biofuel. Working in co-operation with its generator rental partner, Arcomet supplies its customers in the south of England with biodiesel generators and is negotiating to roll out this arrangement nationwide. “Arcomet wishes to be an environmentally friendly company,” says health and safety director Alex McCreadie.
Trevor Jepson, director of City Lifting, says that while his company strictly follows all the relevant regulations relating to waste management licences, it has yet be asked about environmental issues by a customer, and so has yet to formally produce one. “In order of importance they are interested in price first; then they look at safety and reliability second,” says Jepson.
Jepson is particularly concerned about energy efficiency. City Lifting operates a fleet of mobile cranes, tower cranes and Spierings mobile tower cranes. For fuel efficiency reasons, Jepson says he prefers to purchase mobile cranes with two engines, so that the larger carrier engine does not have to power crane operations.
He says, ”I can see plenty of good reasons for saving fuel – the cost of the fuel and the cost of the tax already on it. Also it is a finite resource which in the future will be harder and more expensive to get. As a company we work locally if possible, which not only saves fuel and tyres, but also saves many precious man hours travelling up and down motorways.”
Jepson points out that the regulations in the UK that prevent tower cranes over-sailing neighbouring property without agreements in place has a significant environmental disadvantage.
“Our Spierings cranes and our saddle jib tower cranes save energy by changing radius by only moving the load, hookblock and trolley which only requires about 3kW and distributes the load much faster around the site. Unfortunately, in the UK we have the air space problem, which means using luffing jib tower cranes.
“These cranes have luffing winches of 30 to 65 kW. To keep the load level while luffing in, the luffing winch is using large amounts of power while the hoist winch is lowering the load by dumping the same amount of power into the braking resistors, converting it into large amounts of heat which blows away in the wind,” he says.
“Wolffkran has a good solution for this, by connecting the DC buses of the hoist and luffing winch together so that any power generated by one winch helps power the other one. It is also now possible to get inverters that will feed power back to the mains, but manufactures will only fit these when customer demand justifies the cost.”
