Ceramex: air quality must remain societal focus

By Categories: Commercial NewsPublished On: Friday 24 July 2020

 

Diesel particulate filter (DPF) cleaning and refurbishment specialist Ceramex has urged continuing emphasis on the improvement of air quality, citing scientific studies suggesting a significant decline in air pollutants since the Covid-19 lockdown was imposed.

The company highlighted data collected from air monitoring stations across the country by the National Centre for Atmospheric Science, which found that lockdown has resulted in a reduction in air pollution across major cities.

Particulate matter (PM 2.5) pollution from vehicles was found to have dropped by 30-50 per cent in London, Birmingham, Bristol and Cardiff.

Similarly, an assessment of pollution levels in the capital by Breathe London, which maps pollution by collecting data from monitors placed across the city, identified a 9-17 percentage drop in nitrogen dioxide levels between 17 March and 13 April, compared to its last available pre-confinement data.

Having maintained DPF cleaning operations at its Slough-based facility by implementing hygiene and social distancing measures, Ceramex says it has ensured that its customers’ trucks and buses remain environmentally emission compliant and efficient as they continue to provide essential transport services.

As lockdown restrictions have begun to reduce, Ceramex is seeing a return to pre-Covid levels of DPF cleaning volume, due in part to increased logistics fleet activity, suggesting some initial ‘green shoots’ of renewed economic activity.

In line with its planned expansion strategy for 2020, Ceramex continues to move forward with the development of a much larger DPF refurbishment facility in Reading, which will open in the next few months.  During the pandemic, the business already commissioned part of this site as its logistics hub, which has afforded more storage capacity to enable the Slough facility to operate at full capacity.

Colin Lewis, managing director of Ceramex (pictured, right), said the firm had “responded quickly and effectively to ensure its resilience” in order to support customers over a “very challenging period”.

“Safeguarding our workforce has been a top priority and we have introduced health checks on entry to our facility as well as strengthening cleaning practices,” he continued.

“With early signs of market recovery, we are looking forward to opening the doors to our new DPF refurbishment facility in Reading, which will enable Ceramex to service the growing needs of our pan-European customer base.

“This planned expansion will reaffirm our focus on helping customers to achieve renewed momentum and also provides an opportunity to highlight the importance of efforts being made to improve air quality by minimising vehicle emissions.  In a Covid-19 world, protecting our lungs has never been more important and Ceramex stands ready to play its part.”

www.ceramex.com