Environmental care is a wide ranging issue that affects every living thing on the planet. Phrases such as global warming and climate change crop up regularly in news reports and political statements, and as such it is a topic that is as important to our customers as it is to every family. Everyone has a role to play in ensuring that our planet remains habitable for all in the future, and VCE takes its responsibility to that commitment very seriously. In fact, in a recent customer survey carried out by VCE Europe our Core Values of Health & Safety and Environmental Care were considered the most important aspect of the service we provide to our customers.
To demonstrate our commitment to Environmental Care, all our Customer Support Centres hold ISO14001 certification and operate effective recycling and waste management processes. In addition to this, we have recently completed the first three-year cycle of our Carbon Footprint reduction programme, which resulted in a 20% reduction in our Carbon Footprint comparing 2008 to 2010 across all Customer Support Centres. This equates to a reduction of 853 tCO2e, and this has been achieved through careful monitoring of our fuel and utility usage as well as a number of improvement initiatives.
As we operate a nationwide service network, the use of diesel by our service vans and sales force is our largest single contributory factor to our carbon footprint, so it’s only fitting that this area has also seen the biggest reduction in our carbon emissions. Drivers are encouraged to improve their vehicle’s mpg through the use of league tables based on improvement rather than consumption, which in turn affects the amount of fuel they use. Van location software has been introduced into each service centre which helps the service co-ordinators optimise the allocation of engineers to reduce travel distance. Also, driver training courses to be run in 2011 alongside our Occupational Road Risk policy will improve driver skills further and contribute to future carbon reductions.
Utility usage at each site is another contributor to our carbon footprint, and each Customer Support Centre has undertaken their own improvement initiatives to reduce their gas and electricity consumption. Following a study of night-time electricity use from midnight to 7am, motion sensors were introduced to eliminate unnecessary lighting. This, along with switching off lights not required for safety reasons reduced night-time electricity usage by 42%. Simple actions such as cleaning workshop skylights have had a significant effect on daytime electricity usage, and closing workshop doors while the heating was running helped reduce heating costs and lower gas and gas oil usage.
Being an international company requires regular contact with our colleagues in Sweden and other countries, which often involved air travel. This has been massively reduced through the use of communication technologies such as LiveMeeting and Communicator. We have also revised our technical training schedule, with fewer courses taking place in Sweden and more of our technical specialist training courses taking place in the UK. This has reduced our European air travel by 75%, and led to a total reduction in our air travel tCO2e of 58%.
While we are happy with the results we have achieved so far in reducing our Carbon Footprint, we know that this is only the start of our commitment to carbon reduction. As part of our drive towards continual improvement we aim to reduce our tCO2e by a further 10% by the end of 2012, and are looking to see how other technologies, such as heat surveys and further depot modifications, can help us achieve this target. All our Customer Support Centres received quarterly updates on the progress we have made so far, and it is through the feedback and suggestions we receive from all our employees that will ensure we continue to make a difference.
NICK WEST – IMS Co-ordinator
THE VOICE PAGE 13
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