Earth Day 2024: Our sustainable journey towards a greener future

Organisations all over the world will be sharing their commitment to reduce their negative impact on humanity and planet Earth today as we celebrate Earth Day.

Vertas Group is committed to achieving net zero Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions across the entire value chain by 2050 from a 2022 baseline year. A short-term target further supports this commitment to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions by at least 75% by 2030. Net zero will be achieved by reducing absolute Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions by 90%.

Here are just some of the great things we are doing at Vertas Group to help reduce the impact on our planet.

Plastic

At Vertas, we are doing everything we can to remove single-use plastics, such as switching to bamboo cutlery and reusable pots. You’ll also find paper straws, biodegradable cups, reusable cups, water in cans instead of plastic bottles, and hydration stations at some of our sites.

Chemical free cleaning

In our cleaning services, we use chemical-free cleaning solutions; we offer our customers an SAO system that replaces the need for cleaning chemicals on site as it uses water. This reduces chemicals in the environment, reduces travel with fewer deliveries, reduces waste and plastics, and saves space and safety.

Battery-powered hoovers also reduce energy consumption. Good decision mops are also available, which are a mixture of microfibre and bamboo. We add water to these mops, and the bamboo is a natural steriliser, so we aren’t using any harsh chemicals.

We are working with our supplier to try our new PVA Soluble solutions descaler; they come in sachet format, which allows us to order more significant amounts and have fewer deliveries. They reduce distribution emissions.

Here are some other ways we are helping to reduce our impact on the planet.

Travel

• 100% of our pool cars are now pure electric vehicles.
• We’ve got our first pure electric van in our fleet, and the trial is going well.
• We’re in the final stages of developing our ‘Driving Electric’ training module for all colleagues. This will complement our initial stepping into the sustainability training module.
• Our vehicles now all have tracking software so we can monitor green driving behaviours.
• Our colleagues work both in the office and at home, reducing our commuting emissions.
• We utilise team meetings and car sharing to reduce travel emissions.
• Our green travel plan includes discounted options such as the Tusker salary sacrifice scheme to encourage colleagues to choose electric vehicles; this is complimented by our head office car park, where we have installed nine electric vehicle chargers and our policies for colleagues to park and charge for free.

Waste

• We have diverted all of our waste from landfills.
• We have a target of 80% recycling annually.
• We have recycling stations in our office buildings and paper towels in our toilets.
• We are working to be a paper-free office.

Energy

• We have switched to 100% renewable clean energy at our sites.
• We are switching to LED and motion sensor lighting.
• We’re planning to install PV panels at our head office before 2030.
• We are reducing meat consumption with our Meat Free Monday menus in schools.
• We are reducing energy consumption annually with the support of our ISO 50001 certification and energy team.

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