01732 759725 40 VOX POP continued... continued... Kevin Wragg, Director of Environment & Quality Compliance, UK, TD SYNNEX: We want TD SYNNEX to be leading the way amongst distributors on sustainability. Last year, we worked with external consultants Arete Zero Carbon on a complete carbon emissions assessment and developed an action plan that will move us towards net zero in the UK and Ireland as quickly as possible. We’ve moved to green energy in three of our four major UK&I locations – 90 per cent of the electricity we consume is now from renewable sources and we are working to reduce our energy consumption by 20 per cent by the end of the 2023. We moved our Basingstoke office to a more energy efficient building with 554 solar panels on the roof, 24 e-charging points for electric vehicles, LED lighting, and shared heating, ventilation and air conditioning. It has been fitted out – as has the TD SYNNEX office in Bracknell – to the Royal institute of Chartered Surveyors SKA Gold environmental standard. We have 500 new office chairs made from recycled fishing nets and old furniture has been redistributed via the Waste to Wonder Trust to schools’ charities in Africa. We recently qualified under the Bronze category of the EcoVadis Ratings for ESG, falling into the 50 per cent of top performers. We have achieved ISO 14001: 2015 (Environmental Management System) at all four major UK&I sites. Globally, TD SYNNEX has signed-up to the SBTi (Science Based Target initiative) Business Ambition Pledge. We’re adopting circular economy principles to minimise waste through repair, refurbishment and recycling and report our environmental sustainability performance through CDP. This is part of a broad QEMS programme that encompasses specific environmental targets. Justin Willis, Sales & Business Development Director, ASL: ASL is aiming to be carbon neutral. We recently relocated to a new head office and warehousing location and we are currently calculating data to establish our (new) current carbon footprint in order to put a realistic timeline target on our goal. We have already implemented a number of initiatives to support this strategy. We have retro-fitted our entire HQ with LED lighting and motion sensors and 100 per cent of our electricity is purchased only from renewable energy providers. Moreover, 67 per cent of our company vehicles are now either fully electric, plug-in-hybrid or hybrid – and 100 per cent of our field technicians’ vehicles will be hybrid by Sept 2023. We have also installed ten PodPoint EV charging stations at head office which are free to use for staff and visitors. We have also focused on solutions to reduce waste. For example, all bins have been removed from staff desks and we have a number of recycling stations and shredders around the building. We have also invested in a polystyrene compactor which turns the polystyrene into blocks that are then repurposed in other manufacturing processes. This investment has eliminated the need for a 7.5 tonne truck per week and all the CO2 emissions associated with collecting bags of polystyrene. We have also recently invested in a cardboard compactor for a similar purpose. John Draycott, Marketing Manager, ArtSystems: There are two elements to ArtSystems sustainability strategy, we have been ISO 14000 certified for over a decade so have a well-established environmental management policy for legal compliance of waste management and energy usage. We are also an EcoVadis Silver partner enabling us to connect with the wider CSR objectives. These programmes and certifications give the legal framework for the operations of the business helping measure our use of resources and identifying areas for improvement. The second element to our strategy is customer/supplier engagement, this aims to make our stakeholders outside the business aware that not only are we legally compliant, but that we have proactive programmes that they can engage with that can deliver commercial advantage to them. These can range from chain of custody products and how this works, to product portfolios of more sustainable media such as PVC free products. Steve Holmes, EMEA Regional Director, PaperCut: While many vendors are now talking about sustainability, positive and measurable benefits can only come from companies that are committed to it. Reducing waste and being a responsible corporate citizen has been the core component of PaperCut’s DNA since day one; its founder’s shock at the amount of paper wasted through print drove him and the team to establish PaperCut to help ensure more 67 per cent of our company vehicles are now either fully electric, plug-inhybrid or hybrid – and 100 per cent of our field technicians’ vehicles will be hybrid by Sept 2023 Kevin Wragg Justin Willis
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