Social Value & Fighting Climate Change

Investing in the fight against climate change

As a 3PL business working at the leading edge of logistics, we’re acutely aware that our activities could have a negative impact on our environment. We also understand the extent to which we have the power to use our experience, knowledge and partnerships to influence positive change and outcomes.

Tackling this Social Value theme of climate change, and with sustainable procurement in mind, we’re in a position to wield our procurement budgets wisely, investing in equipment and materials that will not only make a difference in themselves to Net Zero, but will inform and inspire other businesses, public sector organisations and individuals to follow suit.

Below are some examples of how we’re meeting the requirements of the theme, plus insight into how we measure the effectiveness of our policy against its requirements.

Snap insights 2021-22

• Invested in temporary sustainable warehouse structures to hold more stock on site, rather than transporting to offsite facilities.
• Those staff that can work from home, do so, resulting in less travelling which results in less CO2 produced and less diesel/petrol used.
• Holding more meetings via Teams rather than face to face to save unnecessary travelling.
• Granby carbon reduction plan issued with projects that we are working towards.
• All our cardboard and much of our paper stock is certified by the FSC.
• We banished the use of single use plastics in our business, like bubble wrap.

Granby’s commitment to Net Zero

Identifying the wider benefits of contracts (some examples)

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.

One way we do this is by assessing the potential environmental impact of a contract, how this can be minimised or eliminated, and seek positive opportunities for environmental improvements – all within the contract.

We’ve also been an ISO 14001 (environmental management) certified organisation for 13 years – we’ve got well established and robust environmental safeguards and practices built into all our operational processes.

• We liaise with suppliers to lessen the impact of their use of packaging by sourcing sustainable and recycled packaging
• We work with print suppliers who are at the forefront of sustainable print practices, including inks and drying processes
• We liaise with our delivery partners to ascertain the best way of producing carbon neutral despatches.
• We’re encouraging our suppliers to present ways their products can be supplied in a more sustainable, carbon free manner across our supply chain.
• We source sustainable materials – all our cardboard and much of our paper stock is certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC)
• We’ve banished the use of single use plastics in our business

Supporting environmental protection and improvement (some examples)

As an ISO 14001 certified organisation, we’re aware of the importance in making sure our staff, customers and suppliers are aware of the potential environmental issues caused by their behaviour across the contract cycle of any campaign.

It’s important for us to communicate our values to everyone who needs to know them. We need to set out what it is Granby cares about and stands for, and bring everyone on board with this. It goes a long way to supporting environmental protection and improvement.

• Internally, we hold regular awareness programmes to ensure staff minimise their environmental footprint throughout their activities.
• We collaborate with suppliers to minimise our environmental footprint.
• Specialised areas of the business handle recycling and re-use of materials
• We carry out environmental awareness campaigns throughout the year in relation to environmental activities
• We liaise with suppliers and customers to attempt to increase the use of sustainable product from design phase through to manufacture and end of use
• We liaise collaboratively with local volunteer organisations to upcycle and reuse as much material as possible that would otherwise be redundant and end its life in landfill

How we measure our impact on economic inequality

In short, we look at the data for start-ups, SMEs, VCSEs, mutuals, and our employees. This is qualitative and quantitative – including from surveys and audits, from HR, our Warehouse Management System, Finance. As Investors In People members, we are independently audited against a range of indicators, including feedback from our employees.

We measure our impact on tackling economic inequality using KPIs like:

• Number of people-hours spent protecting and improving the environment under the contract, by UK region.
• Number of green spaces created under the contract, by UK region.
• Annual data on the reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases arising from the performance of the contract, measured in metric tonnes carbon dioxide equivalents (MTCDE).
• Annual data on the reduction in water use arising from the performance of the contract, measured in litres.
• Annual data on the reduction in waste to landfill arising from the performance of the contract, measured in metric tonnes.