Environmental

Environment

We have carried out an environmental materiality assessment and identified that carbon emissions, air quality and waste are the key areas we can have a big impact on the environment. We have therefore shaped our strategic objectives to cover these areas and set our future direction. Please click here to see our policies related to environment, social and governance topics. 

Strategic Objective: Be a catalyst for enhancing waste management practices in the industry.

Our business of relocations and storage means we handle a lot of items that could end up in landfill. It is therefore our responsibility to ensure that with every move we look to reduce total waste volumes by investigating the opportunity to relocate, resell, reuse, repurpose or recycle any items we that are unwanted by the customer. Read more about our repurposing service, Ede’s RE, click here to find out more.

Our Waste Goals

  • Engage with waste handlers and furniture makers to identify new opportunities – we want to collaborate and find new ways to process unwanted products, offering our customers more sustainable options
  • Increase reuse and repurposing of materials
  • Increase sustainability of packaging material

Our achievements

  • Donation of a variety of furniture items including desks, chairs, tables, sofas, and cabinets to worthwhile causes
  • Partnership with Business2Schools
  • In-house team of fully qualified furniture engineers applying innovative ways to extend the lifetime of assets that would otherwise require recycling
  • Working in direct partnership with accredited Waste Management companies who specialise in extracting re-usable material from general waste
  • In line with our procurement policies, we identify full chain of custody for any products or services we use to ensure ethical sustainability, minimal negative environmental impact and the exclusion of modern slavery and child labour.
  • Monitoring the source of origin of the products we buy is an on-going process and wherever possible, we purchase environmentally preferable, re-usable materials and products.
  • The procurement of locally produced sustainable goods and services that minimise the volume of waste we produce is embedded within our company culture.

Strategic Objective: Decarbonise our business

Moving items involves transport which is currently powered by fossil fuels, resulting in CO2 emissions, as well as other harmful emissions that impact local air quality. Our storage facilities and office also require energy to operate. We therefore must find ways to decarbonise our business and use reduce emissions across our facilities and transport.

Our Carbon Goals

  • Reduce carbon emissions year on year.
  • In 2024 we set externally approved targets to reduce our Carbon Footprint. Data is recorded, collated and monitored on a monthly basis to ensure continued progress.
  • 100% renewable electricity procurement – using a REGO backed renewable energy provider that can demonstrate that their energy is providing additional renewable energy to the grid.
  • In Q2 2024 we will replace the use of Diesel with HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil) which is not only significantly better for the environment than regular diesel and other fossil fuels but will immediately allow up to a 90% reduction in our net CO2 emissions.

Our achievements

  • Our current vehicle fleet of 21 vehicles is replaced every three years to ensure that we adhere to the latest C02 emission guidelines. Of these vehicles we have transitioned 2 to electric with a 10 year plan to transition the rest.
  • All our vehicles are Euro 6 (ULEZ) compliant, a standard that was introduced in 2015 and reduces the level of harmful pollutants that are released into the environment.
  • Our fleet managers have undertaken extensive training modules that focus on environmental impact awareness, including:
    1. Air quality and fuel efficiency.
    2. How vehicle checks and maintenance can help reduce emissions.
    3. Fuel-efficient driving techniques.
    4. The benefits of journey planning.
    5. How to use in-vehicle technology to improve driving performance.
    6. Alternative Fuels in commercial vehicle fleets.
    7. Bronze / Silver FORS accreditation
  • Achieving external accreditations including: ISO1400, FORS silver, CHAS
  • Solar panels installed at warehouse