100% Reduction in Hazardous Waste Generation VPS Testing & Inspection, La Porte, TX, USA

Due to the testing of fuel oils in the laboratory, solvents are used to clean the instruments between testing samples and to wash glassware. Also, the entirety of a sample, provided by a customer, is not consumed in the analysis process, so VPS is responsible to dispose of the remaining fuel oil. Prior to 2020, this mix of solvents and fuel oils were collected as wastes, were transported, and burned for energy recovery or sent to a landfill per local regulatory requirements. In 2020, VPS was presented with the opportunity to provide these waste products to a transitional company to be used as a feedstock to create biofertilizers. The wastes are metabolized with algae to create a bio feedstock which is then put into a production process to make the biofertilizer. Since the processing facility is using the VPS waste products, they are no longer required to purchase virgin feedstock for their production process.

As a result, the waste products are no longer “considered as wastes”, and the VPS La Porte facility will no longer be a Large Quantity Hazardous Waste Generator (which produce over 1,000 kilograms of hazardous waste per month). In addition to reclassifying the waste, the carbon footprint for VPS is lowered since the transitional company will generate carbon credits, presenting a sustainable approach and a circular  economy.​

31% Reduction in Electrical Usage​ VPS, Singapore

Our Singapore facility had an ageing air-conditioning system which was providing insufficient cooling and ventilation for the offices and laboratories. The system was working beyond optimal efficiency requiring increasing amounts of energy (H1 2020 average monthly usage of 164,093 kWh). It was noted that from 2017, although 20% more energy was being used by the system (2017 average monthly usage of 137,056 kWh) the ventilation and cooling capacity of the system had decreased.

​In July 2020 a new air-conditioning and mechanical ventilation (ACMV) system was installed to address this problem. This newly installed unit operates much mor efficiently, reducing the amount of energy required to maintain sufficient cooling and ventilation for the offices and laboratories (July-Sep 2020 average monthly usage of 112,870 kWh).

The new ACMV system has reduced energy consumption by 31% leading to a reduction of CO2 emissions of 31%.

50% Reduction in Solvent Waste & Reuse of Sampling Supplies VPS Power, Manchester, UK

VPS Power tests 25,000 transformer oil samples every year. Each sample is taken in a glass bottle which needs to be thoroughly cleaned and dried prior to re-use. Historically, this process was accomplished by rinsing the bottles thoroughly with IsoPropyl Alcohol (IPA) and then oven drying.

An industrial bottle-washer has been installed which uses acid and alkali-based detergents that neutralise one another during the cleaning process. As a result, the use of IPA has been eliminated from the bottlecleaning process, reducing the laboratory use of IPA by 50% and saving around 1,000 litres of IPA per year.

Solar Panel Initiative Saves More Than 220.000 kWh Annually, VPS Singapore and Barendrecht

As VPS, we proudly present the great environmental initiatives we took in the 4th quarter of 2022; Around 650 solar panels were installed at the Singapore and Barendrecht facilities. Solar power is the key to a clean energy future. Every day, the sun gives off far more energy than we need to power everything on earth. That is why VPS has invested in solar plants. We produce electricity by transforming the continuous flow of energy from the sun to electricity and no harmful emissions are released in the air anymore.

In the month of November, we have installed 327 solar panels at the Singapore facility. With this, we forecast to save around 220.000 kWh in the first year. This is similar to the usage of more than a 100 households per year! Also in Barendrecht, The Netherlands, the similar number of solar panels are installed and there are many more to come.

Next to this, in October we turned off the airconditionings in our Barendrecht server room, as most systems run in the cloud now. What is nice to know is that we now are a little greener in our IT room; we save around 2000 kilowatt monthly – that is the average yearly energy consumption of a typical household. A little help to make our planet greener.