SUSTAINABILITY SPOTLIGHT | 12 A ore sustainable cu In 2020 Eastern Produce Kenya (EPK), one of the weather, when more thermal energy was required to country’s largest tea producers and exporters, invited remove surface moisture from the green leaf. the IfM to apply the Cambridge Sustain 8 to help refocus its eorts on reducing the amount of energy However, when the data (on good and bad days) used at its Chemomi and Kepchomo tea factories. was analysed and correlated with the weather, they found that the factories were having good days in wet Through online meetings and workshops carried out weather and bad days in dry weather. “So, we asked over the course of 12 months, the team worked with them to come up with the key reasons why they had EPK to identify where energy could be saved and how good days,” says Gary. “And the top three reasons Driving to make sustainability relevant and understood by the were things they could control. So, their usual mantra factory workers. about ‘it’s all about the weather’ didn’t apply.” Having sustainability established drivers for the good days, Gary and his Gary Punter, IfM Engage Industrial Associate, explains team were able to build on simple changes and include how the method (developed at the Institute for sta in the journey. at Kenyan tea Manufacturing’s Centre for Industrial Sustainability) makes energy saving easy to understand and apply Simple steps = big impact factories because it aligns sustainability with business success: Some of the straightforward actions immediately “The Cambridge Sustain 8 Method is eight simple steps impacted firewood and electricity improvements. that can be implemented over 12 months to deliver “Because fuel wood stored in the open has a high sustainability improvement with minimal investment. moisture content,” Gary explains, “we suggested First, by looking at factory data, the method identifies improving firewood storage by expanding covered the key drivers of the factory. We then help the factory wood storage areas. Steam usage was also reduced to pick the areas where sustainability aligns with by eliminating steam leaks and cleaning dust from business success.” radiators and heat exchangers. We also helped to The Institute for Manufacturing (IfM) Focus on the