Sustainability is one of our five core values, and our dedication to creating a positive impact motivates us to not only contribute to the communities we belong to but also to advocate for environmental responsibility.
The Vertas Group is Planet Mark certified, and we have worked alongside them to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy and Net Zero Roadmaps that integrate sustainability into every aspect of our business to achieve significant and quantifiable reductions in our carbon emissions.
Our Commitment
We recognise our role in minimising the environmental impact of our operations and promoting sustainable practices. As a Group, we are committed to achieving Net Zero Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions across the entire value chain by 2050 from a 2022 baseline year. We aim to have reduced Scope 1 and Scope emissions by 90% and are taking concrete steps to ensure significant and measurable progress towards achieving both our short and long-term goals.
Our plan prioritises reducing carbon emissions within our operations rather than simply offsetting them. By focusing on actual reduction measures, we are taking proactive steps to extract less carbon from the atmosphere, ensuring that our efforts contribute meaningfully towards a healthier planet.
Awards and accreditations
Our Sustainability Journey
Our journey towards achieving Net Zero by 2030 is marked by a detailed roadmap that considers every aspect of our business operations. We are focused on enhancing our procedures and adopting practices that put sustainability and environmental considerations at the forefront of all we do.
Central to our efforts is our Energy and Sustainability team, tasked with gaining a full understanding of the Group’s carbon emissions and guiding us towards achieving our sustainability goals.
We’ve identified four key areas of focus for our sustainability journey, each with specific, measurable objectives designed to help us achieve our Net Zero goals and minimise our environmental impact.
Waste
We aim to minimise and actively manage waste through elimination, reduction, re-use and recycling.
Initiatives include:
- Minimising the amount of plastic used within our business
- Diverting 99% waste away from landfill
- Ensuring all equipment and materials is procured sustainably
- Using paper free solutions where possible
- Embedding waste management within our culture and providing sustainability training to all colleagues
We have saved £2.5m pieces of single use plastics from switching to reusable pots and wooden cutlery as well as reducing plastics through mixing our own cleaning chemicals on site in reusable containers.
Travel and Transport
Our goal is to actively promote and encourage sustainable transport across Vertas Group and to have a fully EV fleet by 2030.
Initiatives include:
- Monitoring and reporting on our business mileage and fuel consumption
- We’ve switched our car fleet to 100% electric vehicles
- Replacing diesel vans, minibuses, coaches with electric by 2030
- Installing EV charging on sites
- Encouraging colleagues to reduce their travel emissions through our Green Travel Plan, promoting our cycle to work and electric vehicle schemes as well as public transport discounts, car sharing and digitalising meetings.
By the end of the 2023 reporting period, we decreased fleet emissions by 57.8%.
Energy and Carbon Management Infrastructure
We aim to improve the environmental performance of our buildings and infrastructure by moving towards carbon neutral performance.
Initiatives include:
- Decarbonising our Head Office
- Making our buildings more energy efficient with LED lighting, electrified heating and optimising heating and cooling
- Our design and property consultancy, Concertus, take Fabric First approach and always recommend environmentally friendly and sustainable materials
- Switching to 100% renewable clean energy within our buildings
- Maintaining our ISO 50001 certification
Since our baseline in 2022 our building emissions have decreased by 35.1%
Giving Back Positively
We will positively contribute to the social, environmental and economic wellbeing of our communities through our projects and contracts.
Initiatives include:
- Measuring the impact of social value initiatives through the TOMs framework
- We have established a Social Value a CIG Group for colleague questions and ideas and to drive continuous improvement
- Supporting social causes and initiatives that align with our values and interests, and that benefit our planet and customers.
- Where possible, we support local suppliers by using locally sourced products
- Volunteering our time, skills, and resources to support our chosen charity and other enterprises
