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VeriForm's Success With Sustainability

VeriForm’s success in reducing its carbon footprint has not gone unnoticed, with a recent feature in Environment and Climate Change Canada.

Since 2006, VeriForm has been committed to greater sustainability in manufacturing. This drive has been successful, as VeriForm has reduced its emissions by 77.1% – this means a drop from 262 tonnes of greenhouse gases (GHG) yearly to only 60 tonnes per year.

Reducing the negative impact on the environment has allowed VeriForm to also direct greater efforts towards growing the business and raising profits. The plant is now 128% larger, going from 11,800 sq. ft to 26,000 sq. ft. The sales per unit of energy has more than tripled from $6.12/kWh to $19.55/kWh. All of this has allowed VeriForm to hire 30% more staff, improving production levels and more than doubling profits.

The greatest factor in VeriForm’s success story is the sheer number of energy reduction and process improvement projects implemented over the course of the past thirteen years. The count is now over 100 projects, with the first 37 projects resulting in a fantastic payback period over 6 months. Some examples of these projects include:

• Replacing paper towels with super hand dryers
• Printing multiple pages per sheet
• Replacing current lights with more energy-efficient lights 
• Installing tamper-resistant programmable plant thermostats
• Wire heating disconnects on doors to turn off the heat when doors open
• Halting purchases of plastic cutlery and dishes
• Installing motion-activated lights 
• Improving and adding insulation in walls around windows
• Consolidating garbage bins, improving access to recycling and using permanent bags rather than plastic

The success of these projects has resulted not only in a reduction in carbon emissions and waste but also in hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings for the company. It is no surprise that VeriForm’s sustainability efforts are being acknowledged on a national level. VeriForm has always been committed to excellence and improving the company by passing on the savings to the customer – here’s to many more years of successful sustainability!