SciQuip Carbon Reduction Plan            

Initial Release Date: June 2023

 

Commitment to Achieving Net Zero

SciQuip has been measuring their carbon footprint since 2013, working to reduce this figure year-on-year in order to achieve our commitment to be a carbon neutral company by 2030. From a baseline carbon footprint in 2014 of 31, our figure in 2023 is 9.

SciQuip Ltd is committed to achieving Net Zero emissions by 2030.

 

Note: We have used the same Carbon Footprint assessment tool since 2014 to enable a direct comparison.

Baseline Year Emissions – 2014 (April 13 – May 14)
Emissions	TOTAL (tCO2e)
Scope 1	16.4 – company vehicles and rail / taxi travel
Scope 2	9.9 – buildings energy
Scope 3 (Included Sources)	4.7 – business flights
Total Emissions	31

Current Emissions Reporting 2023 (Apr 22 – Mar 23)
Emissions	TOTAL (tCO2e)
Scope 1	0.1 – company vehicles and rail / taxi
Scope 2	8 – buildings energy and WAH energy
Scope 3 (Included Sources)	0.9 – business flights
Total Emissions	9

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NOTE: Greater reduction in 2021 owing to COVID-19 pandemic.

We project that carbon emissions will decrease over the next five years to 5 tCO2e by 2028. This is a reduction of 55% from the baseline year.

 

Completed Carbon Reduction Initiatives

The following environmental management measures and projects have been completed or implemented since the 2014 baseline. The carbon emission reduction achieved by these schemes equate to 84 tCO2e, a 68% reduction against the 2014 baseline.

 

Management, Accreditation and Awards

SciQuip became an ISO 14001 accredited company in March 2015. Sustainability is led at senior management level with quarterly progress and review meetings.

SciQuip partakes in NETPositive Futures including the Net Zero Carbon Supplier Tool and has recently been awarded Platinum Ecovadis Medal Status in its sustainability assessment platform, which places SciQuip in the top 1% of all companies assessed.

SciQuip has completed the following assessment tools: NHS Evergreen and IntegrityNext.

 

Procurement

When buying goods and services the following criteria are reviewed as integral to the decision-making process:

1. They would be the lowest energy consumption products that are available on the market, or the least water consumption / least waste etc.
2. Are products made of recycled materials and/or can they be easily recycled after use.
3. All products that are better for the environment and reduce the laboratory’s energy consumption.
4. Manufacturers who are carbon neutral and use green fuels/low global warming potential refrigerants in their products (questioned at point of contract and on-going annually through the life of the contract).

 

Reducing Energy Usage

SciQuip continually monitor our electricity usage to highlight areas of inefficiency and reduce accordingly. Having installed Solar Panels on the warehouse roof in 2014 we have significantly reduced our own electricity consumption from the National Grid. Any excess of this renewable solar energy source generated from the solar panels is sent back to the Grid via the Feed-In-Tariff Scheme, further reducing reliance on fossil fuels.

 

1. Investment into solar panels on the warehouse (2014) to reduce our energy use and carbon footprint.
2. Buildings have been insulated to the highest UK standards. The insulated wall and roof panels used to build the new warehouse have a Green Guide A + rating as per the BRE Global “The Green Guide to Specification”, Green Guide 2008 ratings. All panels have been manufactured under Environmental Management System Certification ISO 14001:2015.

NOTE – SciQuip Ltd far exceeded the requirements of Building Regulations Approved Document L2B ‘Conservation of Fuel and Power in existing buildings other than dwellings’ Table 5:

• Wall – internal wall insulation, required U-Value: 0.30; achieved U-value: 0.24 regulations exceed by +20%
• Pitched Roof – insulation at rafter level, required U-Value: 0.18; achieved U-value: 0.16 regulations exceed by +11%

3. The latest boiler technology has helped reduce our gas and electricity consumption.
4. We use high efficiency low voltage LED lights in all our buildings & have added roof lights to increase natural light and reduce the use of artificial lighting.
5. Highly energy efficient glazing in all windows greatly reduces heat loss and energy consumption.

 

Green Miles

1. All company cars are either fully electric or plug-in Hybrid.
2. SciQuip has installed multiple car charging points using power generated from our solar panel source, thus proactively encouraging staff to convert to Electric or Hybrid cars in the near future.
3. SciQuip operates a cycle to work scheme.
4. SciQuip use national courier service companies that maintain their focus on reducing their carbon footprints and increasing the efficiency of their delivery, utilising a modern fleet of vehicles.
5. Sciquip have significantly increased the volume of products shipped via sea freight and have thereby reduced air freight shipping considerably.

 

Active Recycling Policies

1. Between 2016 and 2022 we have reduced our paper usage by 58.1%. To achieve this, we introduced a new IT system in 2018. Any paper that is used is also eco-friendly, recycled paper.
2. SciQuip recycles all packaging including wooden crates, cardboard boxes and packaging material, switching to paper-based packing material rather than plastic where possible. The backing paper from shipping labels is also retained and used as packing material for smaller items.
3. At delivery/installation we encourage all end users to recycle the packaging materials and if this is not possible to return the materials to our head office for recycling. 
4. We place large stock orders with our suppliers in order to reduce the number of shipments and packaging required.
5. We encourage our customers to take consolidated deliveries thereby further reducing packaging and delivery miles.
6. SciQuip purchases the very minimum in new packaging, which is only used when essential.
7. SciQuip is commits to using only materials that are environmentally friendly. Our branded mail bags are made from 100% recycled material and are fully biodegradable.
8. All our wastepaper is segregated and recycled, with minimal quantities of sensitive information sent for secure destruction via shredding.
9. SciQuip actively recycles all wastepaper, plastics, batteries, fluorescent tubes and printer cartridges.
10. For the offices and warehouse, we only use cleaning products that are plant based with biodegradable ingredients and are cruelty free.
11. SciQuip proudly supports Freecycle.org
12. In 2019 SciQuip recycled lab equipment crates into barn owl boxes, which we then erected on site and in our local community.

 

 

Wildlife Haven

Our Site

1. With guidance from wildlife organisations, SciQuip Ltd created a wildlife friendly environment at our rural site. This includes erecting bat boxes, owl boxes, various styles of bird boxes and insect houses.
2. We have multiple bird feeding stations providing additional food sources which are invaluable during the harsh winter months and the breeding season.
3. We have maintained hedgerows and provided wildlife friendly areas to encourage butterflies and other insects to dwell.
4. We have sown native meadow flowers in our verges and do not cut these until late in the season in order to provide further habitats for insects, birds and small mammals.
5. In 2017 a project to build a large wildlife pool within the field of native flowers and grasses was undertaken. Now established, this pool attracts a new range of insect species such as dragonflies, mayflies and damselflies, as well as providing an additional water source for other wildlife.  The wildlife pond provides a Winter haven for a multitude of animals and plants.      
6. During the summer 2020, we created a traditional native wildflower meadow on site.
7. As part of our on-going carbon offset goals, we annually plant native broad leaf trees on our site with the added benefit these have to the local environment. We have deliberately added fruit trees to these plantings which helps provide a valuable food source especially to birds at the on-set of the winter, as well as providing a healthy snack for our staff.
8. In 2019, we also erected some insect hotels on site, by encouraging biodiversity it helps to increase ecosystem productivity.
9. Some members of the SciQuip team also worked together to plant native hedgerows on site. The hedges provide benefits for us and the wildlife that live on site. They have the natural ability to capture pollution, reduce noise, mitigate flooding and provide food and shelter to wildlife.
10. SciQuip has now installed 2 beehives to its local wildlife area which are managed by SciQuip employees.
11. Wild bird visitors - Following on from our efforts to attract wildlife we have recorded 55 different bird species visiting the site.

Future Objectives and Actions

By reviewing the breakdown component aspects of our carbon footprint, we understand that our greatest impact area is contained by our use of our buildings. Our plan to reduce our footprint has an emphasis in this area. 

Scope 1 Emissions Reduction Actions

Company facilities

• Review our IT equipment, bringing forward renewal dates to ensure we meet the highest energy efficiency standards.
• Look at options to install a photo-sensitive lighting system in our buildings.
• Review our energy management data to ensure our heating system is set to a maximum of 20^oC (and discuss with employees’ provision of SciQuip clothing to ‘layer-up’).
• Offer / provide all staff with appropriate SciQuip branded warm clothing (fleece / down jackets) to ensure lower heating levels can comfortably be maintained.
• Discuss with homeworking employees’ options to reduce their energy consumption.

Company vehicles

• Maintain our policy that all company vehicles be fully EV or at a minimum plug-in hybrid.

 

Scope 2 Emissions Reduction Actions

• Consider our options to install further renewable energy and battery storage on-site.

 

Scope 3 Emissions Reduction Actions

Supply Chain Management

• We will gather more in-depth information on Scope 3 emissions through data requests from our supply chain. SciQuip understand this new data may increase our carbon footprint figure. Nonetheless we recognise our responsibility for these emissions and thus the need to count them and focus action on their reduction.
• In 2023 SciQuip will extend the sustainability questions asked at the point of contracting to become an annual process.

Business Travel

While emissions associated with our fleet and business travel is low, we nonetheless have the following actions planned to reduce these still further:

• Use Teams or other online communication tools where possible rather than travelling (without compromising client relations).

 

Employee commuting

We aim to enable 60% of our workforce not to have to drive to site by 2025.  To meet this aim, we:

• Both enable and encourage our employees to regularly work from home.
• Facilitate car sharing through flexible working arrangements and employment of local people.
• Promote our participation in the Cycle-to-Work Scheme.

 

Waste generated in operations

As we do not manufacture, we have very low levels of packaging waste and reuse all packaging with the exception of damaged cartons. Nonetheless, to reduce waste as far as is possible we will:

• Monitor and measure the amount of packaging that comes in with a view to setting packaging waste target.
• Continue to recycle all packaging including wooden crates, cardboard boxes and packaging material, switching to paper-based packing material rather than plastic where possible.
• Continue to place large stock orders with our suppliers in order to reduce the number of shipments and packaging required.

 

Upstream and downstream transportation and distribution

• Review our use of national courier service for all deliveries. We do not intend to establish our own fleet of delivery vehicles (neither economically efficient nor environmentally sustainable), but we will consider whether next day delivery for all our supplies is required and whether a different more sustainable delivery option could be developed for some products.

 

Declaration and Sign Off

This Carbon Reduction Plan has been completed in accordance with PPN 06/21 and

associated guidance and reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans.

Emissions have been reported and recorded in accordance with the published reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans and the GHG Reporting Protocol corporate standard and uses the appropriate Government emission conversion factors for greenhouse gas company reporting.

Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions have been reported in accordance with SECR requirements, and the required subset of Scope 3 emissions have been reported in

accordance with the published reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans and the Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard.

This Carbon Reduction Plan has been reviewed and signed off by the Senior Management Team of SciQuip Ltd.

 

Matt Brooksbank

General Manager

Get a Quote for

Customer Name

Customer Email

Phone Number

Comment

Submit