On Thursday, 18 November, the first Tongeren Climate Award for companies was presented. Tilkin Powder Coatings won this Award with a project from 2019. The company focused mainly on energy and waste management, water consumption, mobility, and climate. They made their operations more sustainable by renovating the existing buildings. They installed 1862 solar panels that can save them from high energy demands!
The electricity consumption of Tilkin Powder Coatings is not to be underestimated. They have an annual energy requirement of 1 Megawatt. With the efforts made, they can halve this consumption! All lighting is LED and very energy-efficient, as are the motors of their machinery. This is partly due to the smart controls that have been installed, ranging from the lighting to the heaviest motors of each installation.
The building is so well insulated that no heating is needed for the workshop. The offices are powered by energy-efficient heat pumps. The lighting is fully LED, and there is an active smart control that curbs the consumption of unnecessary users.
The natural gas consumption of the oven is so well adjusted by a new control that consumption has been drastically reduced.
The water consumption is so low that an average household consumes more than Tilkin Powder Coatings! How is this tackled? Rainwater is collected in a buffer basin of 260,000 litres. This water is treated so that it is usable up to and including showering. The consumption of rainwater is between 100,000 and 120,000 litres per month. All taps are equipped with saving functions.
What do they do about mobility? All their company vehicles meet the strictest Euro 6 Standard. The company cars are at least Hybrid and even fully electric vehicles. There are charging stations on site where visitors can take the opportunity to charge their electric car for free.
The employees of Tilkin Powder Coatings have the opportunity to purchase a bicycle of their choice at a very low monthly cost to collectively reduce CO² emissions. Currently, more than half of their employees are already proud users of E-bikes and cycle to work!
Waste is carefully sorted and handled in an environmentally conscious manner.
All these measures made Tilkin Powder Coatings a pioneer in sustainable business policy.
The choice of the entire city council of Tongeren, which presented the first Tongeren Climate Award, was clear among the numerous candidates that Tilkin Powder Coatings, led by Rosy and Jo Tilkin, should be the first to receive this prestigious award during the ceremony on 18 November 2021.
May this company be an inspiration to motivate you as a business leader to work together towards sustainable business operations!
