Environment
We aim to minimise the environmental impact within our operations and supply chain. We plan to become a recognised industry leader in environmental initiatives.
We will educate our employees and stakeholders to ensure we are as effective as possible in our business processes. Our goal is to increase awareness, change mindsets about the environment and sustainability and thus be at the forefront of industry best practice.
By 2027 Dewhurst Group aim to reduce Scope 1 and Scope 2 carbon emissions by 50% compared to 2020. We have already seen a significant reduction through investing in green electricity.
We will continue to reduce our emissions by investing in on-site electricity generation, sourcing 100% green energy, and offsetting where emissions are unavoidable. To achieve this, Dewhurst Group has improved its environmental management by reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
We have invested in renewable energy on-site where possible and implemented site-specific initiatives.
We have invested in more energy-efficient equipment and electric vehicles for our staff, decreased water consumption, reduced raw material consumption and waste, and reused packaging materials.
Highlights
84% of the electricity currently used in the Group’s European operations is supplied by green electricity providers
Over 210,000 litres of water saved annually through collection of rainwater for toilet flushing at our Feltham site
Natural gas consumption at our Feltham site reduced by 56% in the year to 30 September 2022 due to improved energy efficiency in production
More than 200 kg of plastic granules reused in our injection moulding processes annually
Water consumption reduced by 24% at our Feltham site between 2019 and 2021
More than 300 kg of packaging materials reused and circulated between our subsidiaries annually
A new eco range of environmental products launched at A&A (such as our Shaftpak™ Evo range of energy-efficient LED luminaires and fully recyclable Ecobox solution for oil packaging) to join our cycle delineators from TMP used extensively across the UK to promote cleaner and safer travel
207 kWp capacity solar panels installed at our Feltham site in October 2022, in addition to 60 kWp solar panels already installed at Dual Engraving in Perth, Australia
TMP’s fully recyclable NonCrete Bio-Polymer bollard won the 2022 Green Apple Environment award for ‘Helping the Environment’
Priorities
• Switch non-green electricity contracts in the UK to green contracts by 31 December 2022 and become zero carbon in Scope 2 emissions
• Move to fully recyclable packaging in all our UK companies by 2025
• Keep reusing raw materials in manufacturing processes where we can, to reduce the total inputs and waste generated
• Continue to develop environmentally sustainable products through our circular economy mindset of cradle to cradle
• Expand our environmental measurements to all overseas subsidiaries in 2023. These include hazardous and non-hazardous waste generation and water and energy consumption. We already measure these in our UK subsidiaries as part of our KPI monitoring and reporting
• Educate all our employees on sustainability best practice
Performance
Our Scope 2 emissions in 2022 accounted for 14% of total carbon emissions from Scope 1 and 2.
Carbon equivalent emissions from Scope 1 and Scope 2 activities have been reduced by 25% in total and 40% per sale in the last three years, a large part of which is due to our move to green energy. Our target is to reduce absolute emissions by 50% compared to 2020 and become carbon neutral by 2030 in Scope 1 and 2 emissions.
84% of electricity in our UK operations was sourced with green providers in 2022
Purchased green electricity increased by 35% in the last three years
Our energy consumption reduced by 6% in 2022 compared with 2020