Environmental Awareness

Kings Landscapes have taken the view to care for the environment. It should be natural to care for the environment and the landscape it creates. At Kings Landscapes we are committed to ensuring that recycling and the reusing of materials happens wherever possible.

Recycled waste
Kings Landscapes ensures that all waste is separated – hard core, top-soil, sub-soil, wood and green waste. This enables the correct reuse and recycling of the waste materials we produce. Waste transfer notes are recorded and monitored for any materials taken to a recycling station.
All our green waste is either shredded back onto the appropriate beds where possible or placed on a roll off skip at our yard and is taken away to be recycled once a month.

Recycled materials
Where possible Kings Landscapes try to use alternative recycled materials we use glass sand instead of sharp sand to lay block paving.
Glass Sand is made from waste glass. As soon as glass is crushed it reverts back to its natural state, providing the same properties as sharp sand. The sand can be anything from its fine state up to 40mm pieces making a decorative alternative to a gravelled area. The processes of recycling the glass is simply crushing the glass down, and then applying a tumbling process to remove sharp edges.
The only drawback of the glass sand is its cost effectiveness when used outside the M25 area band. This product becomes very expensive due to transporting costs.
We also use a recycled material with a MOT type 1 specification called crushed concrete as a sub-base. Crushed concrete as the name suggests is concrete aggregate collected from demolition sites and then put through a crushing machine. The crushing facilities only except uncontaminated concrete for crushing. The end product provides an excellent sub base surface for paths and roads. The product is always tested to ensure it meets the Ministry Of Transport’s grade.
Wood used for the dead men for the anchorage systems for trees is recycled from wood that has been cleared from sites previously attended.
One product we are not able to obtain is recycled Lime Stone. Kings Landscapes do not use Lime stone, we would hope in the future that this is something that builders merchants will be able to provide.

LPG Vans
LPG Vans were a big investment for Kings Landscapes due to the expansion of our maintenance department. We currently have 5 vans in our fleet of 10 vehicles. LPG Vans produce 20% less emissions than regular diesel engines and are much more cost effective due to the fuel consumption. Currently there is news that manufactures may produce Hybrid versions of petrol and diesel engine vans. Which we would also consider using in the future therefore, further lowering the emissions given out by fleet vehicles.

Recycled paper and products for the office
Kings Landscapes only use recycled paper, including letter headed paper, complement slips, and business cards, even the ink we print with has been recycled. Where ever possible all the stationary Kings use is recycled.
All computers have twin screens to stop printing out which has saved a lot of printing waste. 99% of all quotations are sent now via email unless the client requests a hard copy for large tenders. Electronic tenders are becoming more popular in the commercial sector, which hopefully in the future will be standard throughout the industry.
The managers have been issued with Blackberry phones to enable them to access their emails on site therefore reducing the amount of documents printed.
All payments made to suppliers are now sent via Banking Automated Credit System ( BACS) therefore no cheque’s are used and the majority of receipts are now send via email.

Knowledge for employees
Knowledge for employees is where it starts. Kings Landscapes has compiled an Environmental Handbook for all employees when they start working for the company. The handbook will be amended every year and explained to all employees throughout the company. This ensures all employees understand our policies, standards, values and actions.
This year has seen major results and growth in the company for environmental issues and training. Management systems and Action plans are now standard throughout the company. Kings Landscapes will achieve ISO 14001 this year, which will make even further commitments for recycling, low emissions and achieving zero environmental incidents.