Aquabase is the first water-based refinish paint and ICI says it offers the first practicable way to drastically cut emissions of organic solvents from crash repair centres, which emit about 100,000 tonnes of solvents into the atmosphere every year.An Exeter firm, Devon Valley Industries, also collected an environmental award for replacing heavy metal pigments by non-hazardous alternatives in making decorative laminate papers. Instead of drilling directly above the oilfield – the original plan was for a 30-acre artificial island in Poole Bay – BP now drills from a hidden four-acre site on land. We have made an investment of almost £10 million in the development and production of lightweight spirits containers, which demonstrates how seriously we take our responsibility to minimise the impact on the environment.”Additionally, BP Exploration has won an environmental award for the biggest onshore oil field in Europe, Wytch Farm in Dorset. The glass packaging industry is in the front line of the environmental debate. Because more bottles can be carried – eight per cent on each load – there were also fewer deliveries. Lightweight bottles have been used for beer for several years, but the bigger size and screw neck complicated their use for spirits. United Glass spent two years developing the bottles, finally putting them into commercial production in Alloa in Scotland.

It has now launched a standard range of Scotch bottles to sell to the industry.
Bob Coakley, managing director of United Glass, said, “the new bottles saved 22 per cent energy in processing and 20 per cent in raw materials. Scotch whisky has been drunk since time immemorial, but its bottles have lost weight. United Glass and United Distillers, makers of Johnnie Walker and Bell’s, have jointly won a Queen’s Award for environmental achievement, for bottles which weigh up to a quarter less than their predecessors. More than 1.3 million pairs of K Shoes were exported to countries as diverse as Abu Dhabi and Venezuela.

Last year, exports accounted for 37 per cent of all the K shoes made, and in eight years, exports increased by 72 per cent, doubling in the last three. John Keery, a spokesman for the C&J Clark group, which owns K Shoes, said: “We managed to do this by producing a product that people want to buy. Springers are not for the young end of the market but for women who are looking for comfort and a quality brand.”The shoes are produced in Kendall, Cumbria, in the same factory as the label started (the K is for Kendall). Some 1,000 people work in the main factory and in other premises in Cumbria, although Clark’s biggest factory remains in Street, Somerset.”The home market is difficult for all manufacturers,” Mr Keery said. “We have a major presence in the high street and have managed to retain our market share, but our main growth area has been in exports.”. Despite the different appearances, they share several characteristics: flattish, widish, and shaped for the foot rather than the other way round.
Not only the Americans love them.