Environmental Policy

Introduction

We recognise that as an organisation our impact upon the local and global environment arises as a result of our own operations and consultancy services. We endeavour to achieve a truly sustainable future by ensuring our actions and advice are based on informed technical analysis and sound business cases.

We continually assess our activities against potential environmental impacts in the areas of vehicle fuel, electricity use, paper consumption, waste to landfill and waste recycled. The importance of environmental sustainability is embedded throughout our organisation, from the board to every staff member. It is apparent in everything, including purchasing fair-trade tea and coffee, printers set to double-sided printing, and using recycled paper to making optimum use of video and telephone conference facilities.

Responsibilities

  1. It is the responsibility of the directors of EV8 to ensure compliance with the procedure and policy detailed here of both the organisation and its JV partners.
  2. It is the responsibility of the directors of EV8 to:
  3. Maintain the version of this document
  4. Audit compliance to this policy/procedure

Vision

  1. Wholly support and comply with or exceed the requirements of current environmental legislation and codes of practice.
  2. Minimise our waste and then reuse or recycle as much of it as possible.
  3. Minimise and monitor our energy and water usage in our office.
  4. Encourage the use of public transport, walking and cycling, and utilise ultra-low carbon vehicles in our fleet and as company cars.
  5. As far as possible, purchase products and services that do the least damage to the environment and encourage others to do the same.
  6. Assess the environmental impact of any new services or products we intend to introduce as part of the approval procedures.

Sustainability Activities

  1. Energy Consumption
    Our aim is to reduce energy consumption and associated CO2 emissions. On an ongoing basis we take the following steps to target reductions in energy consumption in our business operations and will do so in relation to our policy:
    • Buying energy efficient equipment which achieves value for money.
    • Using low energy consumption light bulbs.
    • Programming electrical equipment, i.e. MFD machines, to switch to energy save mode when not in use.
    • Promoting low carbon energy and transport uptake amongst our staff by providing them with knowledge and information to support their switch to low carbon.
  3. Travel
    The emission of greenhouse gases as a result of business travel is recognised as the firm’s main impact on the environment.It is recognised that as our business grows, it is likely that travel will increase correspondingly. Therefore, we have introduced alternatives to travel, as well as new policies for staff to follow in order to reduce their travel-related impacts:

    • EV8 encourages the use of public transport for all business travel, especially the train.
    • Car sharing is encouraged where possible for business trips, as this represents both cost- and environmental savings.
    • Plane travel is restricted to essential only.
    • When it makes sense for business meeting, Eurostar should be encouraged when travelling between London and Paris or Brussels.
    • Domestic travel within mainland England and Wales (therefore excluding Scotland, Channel Islands, Ireland) must be taken by train, not air.
    • Meetings must be bundled into one visit to avoid multiple trips.
    • Video-conferencing facilities, including Microsoft Teams direct from laptops has been installed to allow staff to hold real-time meetings with clients with similar facilities without the need to travel.
  4. Purchases
    EV8 procurement activities include environmental consideration and, where possible, the most environmentally friendly option is chosen – for instance, recycled paper, toner cartridges and business cards.
  5. Printing
    We operate a “think-before-you-print” policy and use laptops to share documents and information during meetings.
  6. Waste
    All staff are expected to dispose of their waste in a responsible manner according to the firm’s Environmental policy. The following steps are taken to improve waste management:

    • All staff must follow our practice of recycling with consideration & passion. This includes thinking carefully before they discard any item of waste.
    • As an organisation, we take a full-lifecycle approach to stationery items i.e. re-using scrap paper as notepads and plastic front covers and ring combs for proposals
    • All proposal front covers, which are now non-plastic are recycled and returned to our print provider for re-use
    • Faulty or obsolete IT equipment (laptops, monitors, printers and desktops) is recalled and either re-configured and sold on, have parts removed to recondition other items, or recycled.
  7. Single-use plastic reduction
    We continue to drive our sustainable approach to single-use plastic by educating staff in alternatives, reminding them of the damage this product does to our environment and simply making the use of single-use plastic not acceptable in the workplace.
  8. Procurement: manage supplier relationships and implement end-to-end changes
    Consumables: staff are not allowed to bring single-use plastic into the office.