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Environmental Policy

The environmental dimension of Corporate Responsibility supports reduced environmental impact from corporate activity through the implementation of policies and practices. The main areas of environmental focus to achieve a reduced impact are carbon emissions reduction, waste management, recycling and efficient transportation. Environmental impact reduction can be achieved through a reduction in general wastage of resources and optimised usage of materials to support sustainability.

Consumption of all the below should be measured, reduction initiatives put in place and targets set for a 12-month period to give measurable improvements over time.

Electricity consumption (kwh)

Gas consumption (kwh)

Oil consumption (litres)

Water consumption (cubic meters or litres):                   

• Consider and record any of your water supply from
  • rainwater harvesting
  • grey water re-use

Renewable sources

• Consider and record any of your water, heat and power supply from renewable sources
  • wind
  • solar
  • hydro
  • water

Waste recycled (kilos):                    

• Paper
• Plastic
• Glass
• Metals
• Food

Waste to landfill (kilos):

CO2 emissions

• Electricity
• Gas
• Oil
• Travel
  • vehicle fuel – company business
  • air travel – company business
  • rail travel – company business
  • taxi travel – company business
  • public transport – company business

Other areas to consider:

• Behaviour (education)
• Energy/water saving equipment and equipment procurement
• Accreditation/disclosure
• Offset

Community

Corporate activity should not be undertaken at the expense of local or global communities and effective Corporate Responsibility policies will support community engagement and the reduction of any negative impacts. Community support may be achieved through sponsorship support for community projects, charitable donations and active investment and involvement in local or global community programmes that are relevant to a company's location, products or services.

The below can all be measured and recorded:

• Time on community projects
  • Translated into monetary terms e.g. £ per hour per head (optional)
• Charitable donations, including gifts in kind, e.g. £ / time / equipment, equating to £ montetary value
• Community-related sponsorship £

Suppliers and Marketplace

A major benefit to sustainability in business and impact of robust Corporate Responsibility policy may be achieved by the use of policies that embed ethical, environmental and social values in procurement, service delivery and marketing/communications. Companies are able to support behavioural change and deliver a positive impact on their customers and suppliers by ensuring that price is not the only determining factor in decision making and policy.

Sustainable supply chain management should consider the following:

• Supplier procurement to use sustainability impact criteria
  • Consider all aspects of your own Corporate Responsibility Code of Conduct and what is applicable to your supply chain
• Supplier contracts require disclosure of:
  • Emission values
  • Energy usage
  • Water usage
  • Resource usage
• Preference for local suppliers where appropriate
• Preference for suppliers which report and publish a Corporate Responsibility (or CSR) policy with progress/performance
• Educate and encourage best practice in Corporate Responsibility amongst supply chain and with customers/clients

Employees and Workplace

The workplace and employee relations are important to companies not just from a legal and productivity perspective, but also as a catalyst for sustainable business delivery. Corporate responsibility for employee welfare has both a legal and moral/social perspective. The promotion of ethical and sustainable best practice amongst employees helps to support wider behavioural change and aligns corporate policy with the values and aspirations of society.

The below elements should be considered when compiling your Corporate Responsibility Code of Conduct:

• Communication of vision and values
• Work-life balance
• Pay and benefits
• Appraisal process
• Training and development plans
• Diversity/discrimination
• Recognition
• Employee code of conduct
• Measurement of employee views/opinion

KPIs

Identify the key issues you want to address, set targets and then regularly measure progress and results.  Be realistic when setting targets and ensure you have communicated the KPIs with all the appropriate stakeholders. Develop a method to measure progress, keeping it as simple as possible.  Remember to report back your progress against the targets to the stakeholder community to maintain interest and focus.