Hewland Engineering, the high-performance gear manufacturer, has proven that embracing sustainability can drastically cut energy consumption and significantly reduce industry’s carbon footprint, while providing substantial operational savings in the long term. Having appointed a group sustainability director in 2021, the company has since cut its annual energy usage by a remarkable 16%, through a focus on optimising its assets’ efficiency. In 2025 alone, the Berkshire-based business is anticipating a reduction of £100,000 from its total energy bill.
In terms of carbon reduction, this equates to a CO2 saving of more than 52 tonnes over the last 12 months. Looking ahead, Hewland is planning to hit a 20% reduction in energy bills, through the adoption of roof-mounted solar panels. Once installed, this technology will payback its investment within three years.
Attacking waste – plastic, metal and water
The business, which has sites in Maidenhead (Berkshire) and Southam (Warwickshire), has also reduced its use of plastics by 75% This has resulted in an overall drop in packaging waste of more that 14%. Among various initiatives, Hewland has replaced its packaging foam with recycled, corrugated paper. The organisation has also replaced 80% of its protective plastic bags with recyclable paper. The 20% remaining plastic bags, which used to be made of 30% recycled plastics, now contain 75% of recycled plastic.
As part of a co-ordinated strategy to move towards net zero emissions, Hewland Engineering is also actively looking at ways to reduce steel waste, reuse wastewater and reduce the weight of its complex engineered components.
This achievement shows that hard-pressed manufacturers can significantly reduce operational costs and improve their environmental performance – by adopting a planned carbon reduction programme.
Agnes Ragondet, Group Sustainability Director at Hewland Engineering, said: “Like a lot of manufacturing companies, our operations use significant amounts of energy – so this area was identified as a priority for us. By managing machinery, moving to LED lighting, monitoring manufacturing operations and involving all of our people, we have made a huge difference. However, this is just the start of the journey. It’s not a short term, single fix ethos, but an ongoing part of our business.”
Inspired by early wins, Ragondet and her team are moving towards a 100% renewable energy model by 2030, involving the generation of at least 12% of total electricity from solar panels installed on factory roofs.
Combatting waste metal
Remarkably, Hewland loses 38% of its bought-in raw steel during machining operations. This waste material, known as swarf, is a prime area for waste reduction through design and manufacturing optimisation, a task the team has embraced enthusiastically.
Ragondet continued: “While the design team has worked to reduce the complexity of components, we have also innovated in the area of machining to tangibly reduce the volume of wasted metal resulting from specific operations.”
Reducing consumables
Industrial polishing of final components is a vital, final stage within the complex process of transmission and gear manufacturing. To achieve this, Hewland has traditionally used more than two tonnes of high-grade ceramic stones every year. Having introduced a quality check of the abrasive media every six months (discarding stones that no longer meet approval criteria) the business has been able to half the volume of waste produced via this stage of production.
Hewland’s Managing Director Andy Morley said: “At Hewland, we intrinsically believe that our business success is linked to our responsibility towards the environment, society and the wellbeing of future generations. While the energy savings achieved might grab the reader’s attention, our sustainability strategy is much wider than that and extends beyond regulatory compliance. It’s our genuine desire to lead the way in reducing our ecological footprint, while paving the path towards cleaner, more efficient transportation.
“In the end, I hope we act as an example of best practice, inspiring others in UK engineering to follow a sustainability strategy. Our doors are always open other manufacturers interested in reducing their energy use and improving their sustainability performance. If we can share our experiences to help other manufacturers, we would be delighted to help.”
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