OUR ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
Advantage Utilities Ltd - Environmental Policy
As a well-established and responsible organisation we pride ourselves on providing a safe, compliant and environmentally sensitive location in which to conduct our business activity.
We’re naturally fully committed to complying with any and all relevant environmental legislation as well as setting our own standards in relation to what we would regard as our corporate and social responsibility in relation to the environment.
This policy details how we intend to fulfil these commitments, in addition to achieving our longstanding ambition to be fully carbon neutral before 2035.
We also acknowledge that given our sector we have a wider responsibility for environmental wellbeing beyond our own operation and to this end we will extend our expertise and services to as wide a market as possible.
This will include but not be limited to regularly keeping commercial prospective clients and fully fledged customers appraised on how they can monitor their respective carbon footprint as well as providing education and practical advice around how to optimise carbon efficiency and support our clients in making eco-conscious decisions.
Our Commitment is to:
Review our environmental policy regularly and strive to continuously analyse our performance with the aim of maintaining a continuous cycle of improvement.
Be carbon neutral before 2035 and play our full part in the UN Race to Zero.
Comply with any and all legislation relating to the environment and integrate environmental management best practice into our business activities.
Be as efficient as possible in relation to our resources and reduce consumption where viable.
Measure and take action to reduce our carbon footprint in accordance with published objectives and targets.
Ensure that environmental considerations are prevalent when making procurement, commercial and logistical business decisions.
Manage our business operations to prevent pollution and minimise any adverse impact on the environment wherever possible.
Keep waste to a minimum by employing principles around reduction, reuse and recycling.
Give due consideration to the environment in the acquisition, design and location of our business premises.
To fulfil our stated commitment we plan to do the following:
Regularly and effectively communicate our policy and encourage feedback.
Work together with external partners, business associates and suppliers in an attempt to align our objectives and values in relation to the environment.
Promote appropriate and proportionate changes to the business which are designed to make us more efficient.
Review our policies and performance regularly and ensure sufficient resource is allocated to enable strategic planning and practical implementation of measures designed to reduce our carbon footprint.
Incorporate environmental awareness into our company ‘DNA’ and published values.
Effectively communicate to our stakeholders around the importance of playing our part in the fight against climate change.
Promote appropriate consideration of sustainability and environmental issues in the services we provide to our clients. This is to include offering green energy tariffs as standard along with carbon efficient products and carbon measurement functionality as appropriate.
What we have done so far:
Energy:
We are committed to continually educating our staff around energy efficiency and we have conducted formal, external training resulting in us receiving independent accreditation as a Low Energy Company.
We practice energy efficiency measures including having motion sensors on our lighting.
We are committed to managing and reporting on any carbon emissions arising directly from our business energy consumption.
Given our sector, our expertise and the carbon efficient products at our disposal, we continue to not only practice what we preach but continually update our clients on ‘green’ technology and associated funding.
We promote carbon monitoring to our clients and provide appropriate advice and education on how to use and improve upon the statistics borne out from it.
We offer to contribute and assist in setting our clients suitable policies around their energy consumption.
Waste:
We practice recycling within our office environment and encourage recycling at all times.
Our sales collateral are always created from recycled material.
We operate a zero plastic cup policy and avoid the use of single use plastic where possible.
Travel:
We offer the majority of our staff the option of working from home to some degree on a regular basis. This reduces carbon emissions associated with some commuting.
We offer our clients the option of communicating via video calls as opposed to traditional face-to-face meetings. This has been the case long before the onset of Covid-19 restrictions.
We are a member of the cycle to work scheme and encourage staff to utilise this facility to ensure commuting is as environmentally friendly as possible.
When site visits are deemed necessary, we encourage the use of travel provisions which are most carbon efficient.
We encourage carpooling when road travel is explicitly required.
Our company director has elected to utilise an electric vehicle on account of improved carbon efficiency relative to traditional petrol or diesel vehicles. Furthermore we will work with relevant parties to facilitate EV charging when demand arises at our office premises and will help our clients do the same.
Measuring our carbon footprint for our business travel on a monthly basis
General
Environmental sustainability will be a primary consideration during company procurement processes.
We encourage the use of Docusign to reduce paper consumption and discourage the use of paper in the office unless absolutely necessary.
Our cleaning products are always eco-friendly and never involve bleach.
We are a formally accredited member of the Future Net Zero scheme and actively promote this scheme to our clients.
This statement serves to represent our general position in relation to environmental issues and policies we will apply when conducting our business.
Our stated aims and objectives as well as the details outlined will be continually reviewed with the aim of achieving long-term and sustainable improvement.