Manrose reaches final in H&V News Awards

Manrose has announced it is a finalist in the H&V News Awards within the ‘Net Zero Impact’ category. A leading UK-based ventilation manufacturer, the company has made the shortlist for its ‘Making Ventilation More Sustainable’ entry, which covers the company undergoing a manufacturing transformation at its Reading site by moving from using virgin to recycled plastic.

Celebrating the achievements of the HVAC industry for over 30 years, the H&V News Awards identifies the most forward-thinking, innovative and customer-focused businesses in the industry. The winners of the H&V News Awards will be announced at a prestigious ceremony to be held at the London Hilton Metropole on Thursday 23 November 2023.

Committed to a net zero-carbon future, Manrose set itself sustainability targets, each geared towards achieving substantial improvements by the end of FY2025, which will significantly cut carbon emissions​. Manrose, therefore, transformed its manufacturing to reduce carbon by investing in R&D and manufacturing technology to develop ventilation products from recycled sources with 90% of the plastic used in its facilities to be from recycled sources by the end of FY2025, without compromising on quality or reliability. By investing in new, more efficient plant within its facilities, it is also reducing the embodied carbon on the components it moulds.

“We’re thrilled to make the final of the H&V News Awards. It is great to be recognised by the industry for our efforts. Our customers have always known Manrose ventilation for its reliability and now we are helping make ventilation more sustainable for them too. We are committed to a net zero-carbon future. It is exciting times at our Reading site as we continue to transform our ventilation manufacturing,” says Stuart Eglin, Sales Director at Manrose.

Since moving to recycled plastic, Manrose has manufactured over 500,000 complete ventilation units, where chassis and facias are produced from 100% recycled ABS. Not only does recycled plastic prevent the use of virgin materials, it has a lower embodied carbon. Taking another step towards more sustainable choices for customers, using recycled plastic is a true innovation. Manrose previously reduced its single-use plastic waste and produced ductwork from recycled plastic. But this innovation moves to the core product, learning to work with recycled material, developing and manufacturing a robust product performing to the same high standards as those made from virgin material, meeting safety standards.

Manrose’ transformation moving from manufacturing in virgin to recycled plastic marks an industry step-change in ventilation manufacturing, enabled through investment in specialist manufacturing equipment, allowing Manrose to produce its ventilation products without affecting the function or performance. Changing the plastics and moving to recycled sources required a tooling redesign for the moulds. Tooling changes needed to ensure the impact and tensile strengths were retained and the material flowed into the moulds consistently.