Sustainability
All businesses are aware that their activities could have a negative impact on our environment. As a 3PL business at the leading edge of logistics, Granby is well-placed to leverage our experience, knowledge and partnerships to influence positive change and outcomes.
Our green credentials
There are checks and balances to how successful we are being in our efforts to make our business – and our clients’ – more sustainable. This comes in the form of third-party audits and accreditations where we have to prove we have rigorous processes in place.
ISO 14001:2015 Environmental Management Systems
ISO 14001 sets out the requirements for an environmental management system. This international standard helps us improve our environmental performance through more efficient use of resources and reduction of waste. This helps us establish a competitive advantage as a provider of 3PL services, which we can pass onto our clients in many ways.
EcoVadis provide a holistic sustainability rating that encompasses our entire business activity, covering a broad range of non-financial management systems from Environmental, Labour & Human Rights to Ethics and Sustainable Procurement impacts. Granby achieved a score of 69, which means we have a Silver Sustainability Rating and are in the top 10% of companies assessed by EcoVadis.
Additionally, the scorecards provide guidance on strengths and improvement areas, which we use to focus our sustainability efforts and develop corrective action plans to improve our sustainability performance. We essentially benchmark our performance and challenge ourselves all the time to provide a better, more ethical service for our customers and also as a duty to ourselves.
Granby’s approach to sustainable logistics
The array of services that fall under the 3PL banner have traditionally not been friendly to the environment. It’s important to have a profitable business that creates jobs and economic growth and now we know this doesn’t have to be at the expense of the world we live in and the health and happiness of future generations.
What we’ve done 2021-22
Granby has made many positive changes to develop more ethical and sustainable ways of providing the same excellent service we always have. As well making Granby a business to be proud of, we have created opportunities for our clients to meet their net zero objectives too.
In escalating our sustainability goals, we’ve identified 3 key areas we want to focus on. They are common sustainability pain points for any business that needs 3PL services.
- More sustainable packaging
- Upcycling more of clients’ waste products
- Reducing gross carbon footprint during despaches
Getting these ideas off the ground has involved developing more meaningful partnerships throughout the supply chain – from our print partners to the carriers we work with. It has also required us to refine our processes and invest in R&D and specialist equipment.
Are you smashing Net Zero?
Single use plastics (SUPs)
Plastic bags can take 20 years to decompose and plastic bottles an incredible – and horrifying – 450 years. Granby has banned the use of bubble wrap and single-use plastics. Instead, we shred paper in-house using a new machine we bought for the job. We also monitor and advise on packing coming into the warehouse so we can raise awareness and encourage better solutions.
Sourcing sustainable materials
Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) certified stock is available in 3 states: 100% from forests managed according to FSC’s standards; 100% recycled; and an FSC-approved mixture of materials. All the cardboard we use is now FSC certified, and we use paper parcel tape (not plastic tape) to secure the closure of all our FSC-certified cardboard boxes.
Sourcing sustainable print
Printed matter for promotional marketing, labels, instructions, certificates and personalised letters have an environmental impact. We work with print partners who use a range of innovative and sustainable print techniques and materials. This includes plant-based inks, UV drying processes, print-on-demand (to avoid waste) and soft proofing (to save paper and ink).
Waste reduction
3PL, promotional marketing and contract packing all use heavy resources. It’s not just the trees – it takes 2-13 litres to create an A4 sheet of writing paper, for example (slightly less to recycle it into a new sheet). Not to mention the energy. We’re always working out how to use fewer resources and this always has a beneficial halo effect on the overall value of the client’s project.
Net Zero working group
Granby has an operational Net Zero working group that helps us identify, imagine and realise our environmental responsibilities and goals. Minimising the impact of our business on the environment is an ongoing workstream. The group is a permanent part of our culture and an ongoing workstream within our business.
Social value
Public sector procurement takes sustainability seriously, as can be seen in its Social Value theme of Fighting Climate Change. Our environmental policy and best practices uphold the values of this theme – critical for us, as a 3PL company that does a lot of business with the public sector. Our policy and best practice are equally helpful to the private sector.
Our environmental policy - net zero
Our environmental policy includes specific objectives that our working group has identified. This includes reducing waste and re-using or re-cycling materials where appropriate, promoting new ways of thinking, reducing the consumption of energy, and encouraging the development of good environmental practice by all the company’s employees.
Carbon Reduction Plan
As part of our sustainability pledge, we’ve developed a carbon reduction plan to reduce our carbon-footprint going forwards.
Our carbon reduction plan is a statement from us identifying our current carbon footprint and the commitment we’ve made to help the UK achieve Net Zero emissions by 2050 or earlier.
Download a copy of our Carbon Reduction Plan