A group of 40 Ekoskola students from seven Green Flag schools recently joined forces to conduct an environmental audit at Playmobil Malta Ltd. The students toured the company’s premises and audited various areas including the production areas, the cafeteria, offices, the shop and the play areas and discussed various environmental issues.
Playmobil Malta Ltd is ISO 14001 certified for Environmental Management Systems, and during their visit the students noted the importance the company gives to the environment in its policies. For example, waste is separated at source so that it can be easily recycled.
The company uses solar panels to produce energy. It is also changing its neon tubes to LED tubes, which are more environmentally friendly. The factory, which runs on a 24-hour basis, needs to keep the lights on at all times, so environmental friendly measures are taken to keep consumption to a minimum.
The students also noted that the factory uses rainwater gathered both from its premises and from the surroundings, thus reducing the use of reverse osmosis, and that it attaches high priority to health and safety at its Fun Park play areas.
At the end of the audit the students discussed with the Playmobil staff some shortcomings that they noticed. These included increasing the number of areas accessible to wheelchairs. The students also proposed ways and means of enhancing present waste management practices by reducing the amount of waste produced, including packaging in reusable containers and using recycled carton and paper.
Although the company publishes its corporate social responsibility report on its website, the students recommended that it should make the public more aware of its environmental initiatives so that other enterprises would be encouraged to follow its good practices.
The students’ proposals will be presented to the management in the coming days.
The audit was conducted by students from Immaculate Conception Girls’ School, Kirkop Boys’ Secondary and Santa Lucia Girls’ Secondary. Representatives from Kirkop Primary, Luqa Primary, Mqabba Primary and Birżebbuġa Primary also took part.