Gompels & The Environment

This page is to provide you with information on the steps we are taking to reduce our impact on the environment.

Animal Testing Policy Statement

No product, or ingredient of any product has been tested on animals by Gompels Healthcare Ltd or companies within the supply chain. If Gompels Healthcare Ltd are made aware of their supply chain not adhering to this policy they will remove the supplier with immediate effect and source the product through a suitable alternative. To ensure this policy is upheld, Gompels conduct regular factory audits and request a written declaration to confirm this.

Solar Gains Make Gompels Carbon Neutral

Back in 2015 we pressed ahead with plans to use solar panel technology across our site with the aim to become "Carbon Neutral" as soon as possible. Putting solar panels on our warehouse roofs has provided enough electricity to make us a net contributor to the national grid and reduced our carbon footprint to below zero, generating up to 10 times the amount of electricity we need during the summer months.

Recycling Forklifts

Normal business practice suggests that forklifts are replaced every 5 years, placing additional pressure on many resources, especially steel. Gompels have adopted a novel, and potentially industry changing, approach of re-using the entire chassis of our forklifts. This eliminates 80% of the smelting and remoulding process, vastly reducing the amount of valuable resources used in this energy intensive procedure. If more industries move towards this, we may soon see the day when our new family car is wholly fabricated from the recycled shell of our old one!

Savings Trees & Helping Charities

Ever get your delivery in a recycled box? Ever wondered why? It’s simple really, we hate waste at Gompels. So, to help save trees, waste and the environment, we recycle as many boxes as we can, but that isn’t all. We also donate 10p from every recycled box we use to charity. Now 10p per box doesn’t sound much you might say, but when you think we send out approximately 800 boxes a day, those little 10p’s soon mount up. The charities we currently support are Facing Africa, Smallpeice, Snowcamp, Building Schools for Africa, Young Melksham and Melksham Council.

Encouraging Our Manufacturers To Do The Right Thing

Our supply base spans the globe and whilst we would love to source locally, the reality is that products like gloves are just not made in the UK.  We make a point of visiting all suppliers on a regular basis to make sure that there is a solid long term relationship and a chance to encourage them to look after the environment that we all share.  From helping them to reduce waste in the manufacturing process, to using less packaging, we look at the products’ lifecycle from start to finish.  Little things can make a huge difference and we have had big gains from:

• Adjusting wipe sizes so that the whole width of the machine is used and wastage is minimised
• Changing the packaging so that it does not have to be reboxed in the UK before shipping
• Introducing “double packs” that use less packaging and less transport space
• Favouring factories that are gas powered rather than coal powered (oh yes they still exist!)
• Making it quite clear that environmental progress is a major criteria for us and our customers

Envrionmentally Friendly Expansion

Wow what a year it’s been for us. After a slight delay we finally moved into our lovely new office and warehouse with its state of the art technology to make us even more environmentally efficient. Some of the features include:

• Additional insulation, which not only reduces our energy bills but also reduces our carbon footprint; plus makes it a much warmer place to work. Insulation is also very effective at absorbing sounds, meaning we have reduced any noise impact on our surrounding neighbours.
• Heat reflective glass; another great way to reduce heat loss, making it cooler during the day and warmer at night.
• CO2 monitoring, everyone knows that increased CO2 levels can be detrimental to your health, but constantly over-ventilating an area is inefficient too. The solution is to monitor the air quality and only ventilate when actually needed.
• Time controls on energy consuming services such as ventilation and water pumps.
• Occupation sensors in place of all light switches. We started back in 2006 installing a computer-controlled Smart Lighting System across our warehouses, with the sole aim to reduce electricity wastage. We have expanded this system across our whole site now and our SLS consistently saves 90% of the electricity that is required by a traditional “always on” system
• Window shading from direct summer sun, being able to control how much light and heat comes in from the windows can reduce our reliance on air conditioning during the hotter months.
• High efficiency air source heat pumps for heating and cooling which further reduces our carbon footprint. 

So as you can see we are working hard to make Gompels Healthcare a healthy place to work not just for the staff, but for the planet too.