SUSTAINABILITY


SUSTAINABILITY W


ith a drive towards energy efficiency and water saving in the plumbing and heating sector, there is a significant


opportunity for merchants to lead the way for their customers through stocking sustainable heating products and encouraging best practice.


Plumbase’s Environment & Quality Advisor, Anna James, says that the plumbers merchant’s journey to becoming a green merchant started a few years ago. “It became increasingly difficult to ignore the impact of our lifestyles on the environment, both as individuals at home and as a company,” she says. “Be it through plastic waste, pollution from travelling, or carbon emissions from running our homes and businesses, we are all capable of doing more to improve our environmental credentials.”


James says that Plumbase is passionate about becoming an environmental leader in the industry. “As a merchant, we have a responsibility to make being sustainable as easy as possible for our staff and customers. While there are big strides that we need to take as an industry to become more sustainable, at Plumbase we have tried our hands at various initiatives and already reaping the rewards.”


Earlier in the year, the company announced its partnership with Big Clean Switch, a social business which helps people and businesses to move to renewable electricity providers. “As well as our own energy coming from renewable sources, those working with Plumbase can also quickly and easily switch to one of the UK’s most trusted clean energy suppliers. “Also, with the aim of reducing carbon emissions from our vehicles by 351 tonnes in 2019, we have already invested in 25 new vans which produce 288g less CO2 per km than the Euro 6 standard requires. We are also planning to take further steps to reduce


pollution as a result of travel by investing in more efficient vehicles, encouraging more fuel-efficient driving and increasing the range of hybrid vehicles available as company cars.” Plumbase also made the decision to become plastic bag free, having replaced them with paper alternatives. Each branch is actively encouraging its customers to re-use bags through posters explaining the environmental impact of plastic in the oceans.


“There is always more to be done when it comes to protecting the environment,” James comtinues. “In terms of future objectives, the company will be exploring material recycling in more detail and working closely with suppliers in order to reduce product packaging, where possible. Packaging and marketing obviously go hand-in-hand so we’ll be doing all we can to ensure our suppliers get the exposure they need.”


With the aim of reducing its carbon footprint by as much as 70%, James says that Plumbase has plans to extend the use of LED lighting across the entire business, including all branches.


“Having a strong relationship with both our suppliers and customers is key to our success as a merchant. Whether it’s having access to more sustainable products such as water saving solutions or more efficient boiler spares, to simply providing guidance on how they can do their bit, we are here to support our customers.”


With homeowners becoming increasingly aware of their environmental


impact. It’s therefore becoming more of interest to the


www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net November 2019 35


THE DRIVE TO INCREASED


The need for businesses to become more sustainable is not confined to suppliers. BMJ discusses Plumbase’s efforts to make itself a more sustainable merchant.


heating engineers and plumbers to be more environmentally friendly to meet these homeowner aspirations.


“A lot of the time it comes down to educating our staff and customers to be more mindful and less wasteful, which I am determined to do,” James says. “Equally, it’s important to realise that what may seem to be simple small changes can have a significant impact in the long-term. For example, just by educating Plumbase staff on setting boiler timers, the company can save as much as 5.8 tonnes of CO2 and £2,400 per branch, per year in gas.”


She adds that Plumbase has a chance to be an environmental forerunner in the merchanting industry. “I am passionate about ensuring that we make the most of that opportunity.


“We are always taking steps across the business to become greener, cleaner and less wasteful. There is no end date to our goals in this area – we need to remain conscious of our environmental impact and responsibility to the planet. We hope to encourage our customers and suppliers begin to see the importance of being more environmentally-friendly by leading the way.


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