lives; they want to see their employers replicating
that. Companies are being held increasingly
accountable for their waste.”
The Cranswick sustainability strategy is called
Second Nature. “The name is really important,”
says Mayer. “It’s not a bolt-on to our existing
jobs; it’s designed to be deeply ingrained – second
nature – in the day-to-day running of not just the
factories, but the entire business.”
Second Nature sits above a series of targets
that Cranswick is working towards: becoming a
zero food waste business, reducing energy, water
and waste and cutting back the use of plastics.
Getting the people on board
Such a bold scheme wouldn’t succeed on its
own. It required buy-in from a number of parties,
starting on the shopfloor. “During my five
years with Cranswick, a lot of the improvement
initiatives have been driven from the top
down,” says Mayer. “With this sustainability
push, however, the passion and enthusiasm has
come from the bottom up. We carried out a
sustainability survey amongst our staff, where
we asked all our employees for their views on
how we were performing as a business. Of
the 94% of staff who responded, a quarter put
themselves forward to become a ‘change agent’,
responsible for making a difference on-site.”
These change agents were tasked with
coming up with three key sustainability goals
that they found most important. The site’s wider
sustainability strategy was then built around
these. The Hull factory (pictured, right) has only
been in operation since 2013, so Mayer and the
team were pleasantly surprised by the passion
shown by the shopfloor staff. “As soon as we
undertook the survey we were taken aback by
the passion shown by our employees,” Mayer
explains. “People feel passionately about reducing
waste at home, so having the opportunity to do it
on an industrial scale is great for them. The more
we focus on sustainability, the more it’ll become
part of the way we operate.”
This desire to replicate domestic sustainable
practices in the workplace isn’t unique to
Cranswick. Another company experiencing it is
Leicester-based brick manufacturer, Ibstock.
JUNE 2019 COVER STORY
New energy regulations turn the
spotlight onto large businesses
From April, all large companies in the UK have been obliged to
include detailed carbon emissions and energy usage figures in
their Director’s report. The new Streamlined Energy and Carbon
Reporting (SECR) replaces the Carbon Reduction Commitment
Energy Efficiency Scheme (CRC).
“CRC was a landmark piece of legislation, which addressed
energy use for the first time,” says Liz Minshall, a consultant at
environmental compliance firm, Valpak. “Where CRC applied
directly to energy levels, the SECR is based on company size.
The aim was to make the process more streamlined, but we have
found that many of the smaller companies that Valpak works
with are unclear – or unaware – of their obligation.
“Particularly at the smaller end of the scale, when we work
with businesses, we find they are not actively measuring energy
and greenhouse gas emissions across all streams. Transport
is commonly left out, even among companies that report on
some level. However, under the new ruling, this information will
become a compulsory section in all annual reports.”
Energy use and greenhouse gas emissions resulting from gas
and electricity use and transport must all be included. Any KPIs
used should be given as absolutes and use of an intensity ratio
is required. This involves dividing the impact by metrics such as
turnover or number of products produced. The figures should
relate to a quantifiable factor, such as tonnes of CO2e per square
metre of gross store area. Once levels have been ascertained,
companies must then include information on energy efficiency
actions and reporting methodology.
“The new ruling will, rightly, turn attentions towards carbon
emissions and promote environmental behaviour but, for many
companies, the process can be daunting,” concludes Minshall.
“Collecting information and presenting it altogether, in the
correct format, can be time-consuming and complicated.
Businesses should remember that there is help available, and
with the right support, it is easily achievable.”
Cranswick’s
shopfloor staff
have led the
company’s
sustainability
focus
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