Jackon puts the environment centre stage with new bee centre initiative

Jackon, the manufacturer of XPS and EPS solutions for the construction of low energy buildings, is launching a year-long campaign of support for The Bee Centre, near Preston, Lancashire. The campaign starts this month with the donation of 200 bee hives to the Centre. With a retail value, including all accessories, of up to £250 each, the beehives are to be used in starter kits for school environmental projects.

The initial donation will be followed up with related support activity to be unveiled during the coming year.

Jackson says it is a highly environmentally conscious manufacturer and the company has always sought to reduce the environmental impact of its production processes. Energy efficiency, sustainability and waste reduction are guiding principles of the business. Jackon products’ role in the roofing, cladding and insulation aspects of energy-efficient buildings means that they make a positive environmental impact, in terms of energy efficiency and durability. Jackon construction products include the Jackodur range of XPS insulation boards, Atlas, an XPS-based insulated concrete raft foundation system, and insulated concrete formwork system, Thermomur.

With its support for The Bee Centre, Jackon is making explicit the link between its products and the environment. The beehives that it is donating are manufactured by Jackon from the company’s own polystyrene bead. They will last a lifetime and provide better insulation than timber alternatives in the winter.

“Single-use plastics are getting a lot of bad press at the moment – and our misuse of them is certainly causing a massive environmental problem,” said Colin Higham, managing director of Jackon UK. “However there is a positive side too. Our products last a lifetime, have very impressive insulation properties when used in construction projects and cause minimal environmental impact, if manufacturing processes are carried out properly.”

The link with The Bee Centre gives a focus on to what is, along with the plastics issue, one of the most worrying aspects of the current environmental crisis, namely the threat to pollinating bees, whose activities are critical both to nature and to many aspects of our own food production.

Simon Cordingley of The Bee Centre said: “Our work is centred around the important environmental story of pollination carried out by bees. It’s about generating awareness in schools, colleges and local communities of the importance of our native bees and the threats to them. The localised bee populations that we breed are based on the native black bee. We have used polystyrene beehives in the past, so we are familiar with the advantages, compared to timber alternatives. To receive 200 of these from Jackon, of a proven type which they already sell in Scandinavia, is a massive and welcome boost for our work.

“This is a big project. It will enable us to engage with more than 100 schools, carry out training and reach thousands people over the coming year. We find that schools get very enthusiastic about bees, and the interest goes far beyond the biology class. They can weave the bee theme throughout their other subjects. We have even had schools dedicate whole weeks of assemblies to bees – the subject really catches their imagination.”

As well as donating product, Jackon will also be supporting a number of strands of community engagement and education which The Bee Centre is carrying out in the coming months. More information regarding bees, pollinators and this project can be found at www.TheBeeCentre.org.