Measures to counter its carbon footprint have been introduced by Valpak, the UKs largest compliance scheme which also runs a consultancy and waste management service.
The actions to reduce, or compensate for, its carbon footprint range from supporting small hydropower plants in rural China through to cutting waste at Valpak Recyclings materials recycling facility in Preston.
Valpak said that the programme was an acknowledgement of the need to take responsibility for the carbon impacts of our business operations and to demonstrate carbon neutrality to their membership and customers.
In-house
Using its in house team of sustainable development consultants, all of the companys emissions were measured. From this a plan was drawn up to reduce the impact of the emissions and achieve carbon neutrality in line with the ISO 14064 and PAS 2060 guidelines.
PAS 2060 (The Publicly Available Specification 2060) is a national standard which provides a consistent approach for organisations to demonstrate carbon neutrality.
It was published by the British Standards Institute in April 2010 and requires an organisation to determine its carbon footprint, in line with recognised methodologies, and to produce a Carbon Footprint Management Plan describing how it intends to reduce emissions year on year to achieve carbon neutrality.
Valpak explained that its 2010 carbon footprint calculation included all direct emissions, indirect energy emissions (which related to the consumption of electricity) and other indirect emissions that occurred as a consequence of the companys actions.
Using this, it was able to identify key areas of consumption and develop appropriate carbon reduction plans which are focused on: business mileage (road), electricity use and site waste from its MRF.
As well as working to reduce its carbon footprint, Valpak also offset its emissions by investing in a Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) -accredited project to operate sustainable small hydropower stations in rural South West China. These are small run off river hydropower stations generating renewable electricity without the need for a retaining dam.
Standard
Steve Gough, Valpak chief executive, said: We worked hard to obtain this standard in order to give our customers increased confidence that we are a responsible business that manages all of our significant impacts.
“The work that weve carried out has allowed us to understand the process. We are now in a position to speak from experience as well as help other businesses to achieve carbon neutrality.
The VCS Program, explained Valpak, provides a robust, global standard and program for approval of credible voluntary offsets. VCS offsets must be real (have happened), additional (beyond business-as-usual activities), measurable, permanent (not temporarily displace emissions), independently verified and unique (not used more than once to offset emissions).
Valpak is hosting a one-day environmental objectives seminar on July 7, which will offer businesses tips and advice on the steps that they need to take to be both sustainable and compliant with environmental legislation. Details, tel: 08450 682572, email: info@valpak.co.uk
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