Andrew Bryan, safety, health, environmental and quality director at Samsic UK, discusses how using data, combined with passion, can help businesses deliver on ESG.
Companies across all sectors talk about being ‘green’ but with the requirements of day-to-day operations taking priority, it can become too easy for this to become no more than lip service and for sustainable activity to be pushed to the back of the queue.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a widely used term and most company websites will reference policies and practices in this area. More recently, however, environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) has started to take over, implying an approach to business which goes beyond solely sustainability, however this may be defined.
ESG is specific and measurable, providing a set of criteria in each of the three areas of environmental, social and governance against which companies can measure.
It is clear to see that ESG transcends solely a vague statement or commitment and requires best practice, a clear plan and strategy and ethical business behaviours in all aspects of operations. And in an age where businesses are able to generate huge amounts of data, that data needs to be harnessed to give a clear idea of performance, identify areas for improvements and then showcase results.
Samsic UK’s aim is for its offices to be carbon neutral by the end of 2023, but our environmental ambitions extend beyond that. We are seeking to be truly carbon neutral across all areas of our operations by 2030, including the properties we look after, and this requires a detailed approach.
Our detailed and strategic approach in this area has been piloted by subsidiary company JPC by Samsic at a serviced office, 566 Chiswick Park in London, with immense success.
An overall project to reduce emissions emanating from operations covered three areas: natural resource consumption, such as gas and fuels used by fleet vehicles in transport to and from site; heating, water, and electricity; and employee commuting, supply chain, mileage and travel claims.
For each piece of machinery and equipment, from laptops to vacuum cleaners, the team calculated how much electricity was required to power each unit in KWH then established how many hours per month it was in use. A further calculation was made for water used over the same period for any heating, jet washing or drying equipment – indeed anything that required water to operate and function.
Calculations involved contacting each supplier and contractor and asking them for their carbon footprint for that site only, in relation to vehicle deliveries, mileage, and product life cycle analysis, as well as details on outer packaging materials, contents, contained materials and the recyclability of each element.
The analysis covered employee commuting: each employee was asked how they travelled to work and their mileage, with emissions calculated based on the mode of transport. The impact of any business travel, including overnight stays, was analysed. Finally, records were kept of all waste generated, and the methods of recycling employed, as well as the final destination and quantity going to landfill.
This detailed research revealed that a total of 13.30 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) were being generated from Samsic’s on-site activities at Chiswick Park, providing a base to measure improvement.
For areas where emissions are high, a carbon reduction strategy has been put in place, based on specific actions which shape the programme for the next year. Figures are then analysed to track and identify any patterns.
The success of this model is now seeing it replicated elsewhere on other Samsic customer and serviced sites. We want sustainability to be second nature to people rather than actively having to think about it and buy into it.
We have always sought to buy based on quality and value rather than cost, but that individual will now be tasked with sourcing products that are the most eco-friendly possible, rather than the cheapest on the market.
Throughout the business there is real passion in this area, and we are empowering people to make the decisions and deliver the actions which support ESG goals – not just within Samsic but for clients and suppliers too – and deliver a better world for all and a more sustainable legacy for those who follow.
