Carbon Neutral
We are thrilled to have been awarded Carbon Neutral Status, achieving Carbon Neutrality ahead of our original roadmap.
January 2022
Vygon UK has always been conscious of its energy usage, and over recent years we developed a continuous energy reduction programme. Our strategy was to focus first on the reduction of our energy demand as the main way to minimise our operational carbon emissions.
This included the replacement of existing lighting in the Warehouse and Office areas with energy-efficient LED lighting, and fitting timers to car park lights, resulting in a positive impact by reducing energy usage as well as light pollution for the local community. We also implemented Managed Print Services (MPS) to reduce paper waste and power consumption. MPS gave us visibility to make changes on our printing processes, which equated to 36.57% of a tree, 38.75kg of CO2, and 2,430 equivalent bulb hours were saved over the year.
Site electricity was a high contributor to our emissions, updating the lighting made improvements but we saw a potential to be better. During Autumn 2020, Vygon UK made a sustainable investment by installing Solar PV Panels on the roof of our headquarters in Swindon. These panels generate approximately 53% of site energy requirements, saving 108 tonnes of CO2 in 2021, and the equivalent of planting 1,280 trees.
During the last three years, Vygon has achieved a 48% reduction in electricity-related emissions and an average year on year decrease in both electricity and vehicle-related emissions by 27%.
Our future plans
Vygon understands the long-term challenges and plans to increase its renewable energy capabilities, through installation of further Solar Panels, Wind Capture or Vortex devices, with the aim of generating 100% of our UK operations energy requirements. We have also taken steps towards reducing the impact of company fleet cars by supporting the move away from petrol/diesel models to hybrid vehicles. The goal is to progress to a fully electric vehicle fleet by 2026.
We recognise that Sustainability is key not only for Vygon, but for our environment. As a result, Vygon has formed the Social, Economic & Environmental Development Committee (SEED), focused on delivering our future plans and engaging our staff on the journey to Net-Zero.
Reducing our energy usage and becoming Net-Zero is only one part of our sustainability plan. SEED is also dedicated to looking at the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of the business.
During 2021 we took steps to understand our customer expectations regarding carbon reductions and social values, whilst also gaining an understanding our Supplier Sustainability capabilities.
The NHS Supply Chain have a target to reach Net-Zero by 2045, as a key supplier to the NHS, gaining Carbon Neutrality demonstrates Vygon’s commitment to combat climate change and is our starting point on the roadmap to Net-Zero. Planned engagement with suppliers will be focused on reducing packaging and ensuring sustainable packaging is used. Long term we will work with suppliers on Scope 3 emissions within their supply chain.
Within our UK operation, our Warehouse uses 100% recycled boxes, and we recycle all packaging materials. We have recycling points throughout the Offices and have encouraged staff to utilise food bins which we will use as compost in our grounds.
In terms of Community, we are considering the impact Vygon has on the local community and the benefits we can bring. We are planning a range of activities to bring us closer to the community and show our support in the local area over the coming year and in the future.
We welcome feedback from our customers and direct any ideas or feedback relating to our sustainability or social values to be sent to seed@vygon.co.uk