Our Commitment to Environmental Management
As part of our commitment to being a carbon-neutral company and reducing the wider environmental impact of our activities, The Growth Company is committed to maintaining and continually improving an environmental management system (EMS).
An environmental management system is a framework for making policy and process changes that help us improve our environmental performance, helping to grow our business in an environmental and economically sustainable manner.
Our environmental management system is certified to ISO 14001 (the international standard for environmental management). Certification to this standard is the best way to demonstrate that we are taking proactive steps to be environmentally responsible and accountable, making a clear statement to all our stakeholders that we are passionate about reducing our environmental impact, which is a key priority for us as a business.
Our Environmental Policy
Our Environmental Policy forms the foundation of the environmental improvements we make as a business and we have integrated this policy into our day to day operations. Our approach is outlined below:
We recognise our activities impact the environment in a number of ways, principally through:
- Energy – including the heating, lighting and electricity we use in the buildings we occupy and when working from home;
- Business travel – emissions to air from our business related travel;
- Disposal of information communication technology hardware (ICT) – we have an obligation to ensure safe and secure recycling of IT assets in accordance with relevant regulations.
- Waste – we have a legal responsibility to ensure that we produce, store, transport and dispose of waste without harming the environment.
- Use of paper – through the paper we use in our day to day operations.
To manage our environmental impacts, we are committed to:
- Reducing energy consumption across our estate through staff awareness and improved controls;
- Reducing business travel miles through better journey planning and increased use of technology;
- Reducing paper consumption through staff awareness and increased use of electronic communication and data storage. All paper is also 100% post-consumer recycled and FSC certified, meaning it has been harvested in a responsible manner.
- Rationalise our use of ICT hardware and ensure that all waste electrical & electronic equipment is reused or recycled where possible, in line with our Disposal Policy
How you can help support us in reducing our environmental objectives:
You can help protect the environment and help us ensure we meet our environmental objectives by ensuring:
- You understand how to report any maintenance issues, ensuring any environmental impact is minimised. You can do this by logging a query with Facilities via the Marval system
- You understand what actions are required to reduce paper use, including utilising the double-sided printing option, avoid printing e-mails and drafts and to display documents on screen rather than printing out a paper copy. If printing is necessary, ensure you use the print option 'current page' and 'pages', check 'print preview' to avoid printing mistakes and avoid printing on glossy paper and in colour.
- Ensure that you turn off your laptop if you’re going to be away from your desk for more than an hour and make sure you turn off all computers and printers off at the end of the day
- You continue to reduce the amount of waste produced by considering purchasing decisions, whether items can be reused or recycled, before putting them into the bin. Please continue to use the recycling facilities available to recycle paper, plastic bottles, cans, batteries, waste electrical items and other waste streams which are appropriate for your site.
- Ensure your personal vehicle details are correct and up to date centrally
- If commuting, actively utilise public transport wherever possible (GC offer season ticket loans for train, bus and tram tickets)
- Keep yourself healthy (as well as the environment) by taking advantage of our cycle to work scheme
You can find out more about our environmental approach, plans and commitment in our Environmental Policy
If you have any queries, or would like to discuss any of the above further, please contact Gary Jarvis (Group Quality and Information Security Manager), or Clare Fallon (Group Sustainability Manager).