Greenhouse gas emissions
For the majority of businesses, value chain emissions are the most significant source of greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution.
Companies today have more ambitious climate and sustainability goals than ever before. However, when it comes to reducing GHG emissions, many are finding that their targets cannot be achieved single-handedly. This is because much of their GHG emissions occur outside of their direct control.
Business GHG emissions are categorised into three ‘Scopes’ by the GHG Protocol. Scope 1 covers direct emissions from owned or controlled sources. Scope 2 are indirect emissions from the company’s energy consumption. Scope 3 includes all other indirect emissions that occur in a company’s value chain, and are often referred to as value chain emissions.
Value chain emissions can account for as much as 80–97% of a business’s total emissions.
GHG emissions from business activities
A closer look at value chain emissions
Value chain activities are wide-ranging and complex.
There are 15 categories for value chain activities, and these are either upstream – purchased goods and services which are brought into an organisation to make products or carry out services, or downstream – what happens to a product after it has been taken to market and used by a customer.
Value chain activities are extremely varied and typically sit outside of the organisation, making them difficult to control. However, because they often make up the lion's share of a business's total emissions, they are arguably the most important emissions to address in the context of the UK government's 2050 net zero target.
Value chain emissions may be your biggest polluters, but until now, they have also been the trickiest to eliminate.
The Circular Procurement solution
It's impossible for a business with multiple suppliers to effectively reduce their value chain emissions.
If your business is serious about sustainability and working towards a low carbon economy, it is crucial that you reduce emissions across your full range of business activities.
Complete Circular Procurement presents a suite of innovative solutions designed to help any business tackle value chain emissions and create genuinely sustainable working practices.
Our team will consolidate your procurement and provide you with the most sustainable products and materials available. As part of our recycling program, we’ll collect and recycle waste paper, upcycle it into new paper products, and make our collections using our dedicated vehicle fleet.
In order to monitor our performance, we map our objectives to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
As you will see, 12 out of the 17 goals are directly relevant to what ourselves and our partners are aiming to achieve.
consolidated procurement
InOne, our consolidated procurement platform, gives you access to the broadest range of products, services, industry expertise and technology, all in one place.
InOne is a secure online ordering portal for the management, control and fulfilment of your business supplies. It connects all of your essential supplies in one location. They are produced, stocked and ready to be distributed whenever you need them.
By consolidating your procurement process and reducing your supplier base, not only will you reduce administration but you can drastically decrease the number of deliveries you receive, which in turn reduces your company’s environmental impact. With our eco-friendly products, packaging reduction, recycling initiatives and electric vehicle distribution, no other company offers more ways to support your efforts in reducing our collective carbon footprint.
Sustainable products & materials
Inevitably, the manufacturing and supply of products will have an impact on the environment; however, we are now in a position to significantly reduce that impact.
Our expertise, internal resource and wide supplier base will empower you to make smart choices.
Sustainable product alternatives, options on printed materials and substrates, and environmentally-friendly workwear are just a few ways our intelligent solutions will help your business achieve its environmental objectives.
Recycling
As we provide a high volume of paper and card products, it is imperative for us to take responsibility for the products we and our clients consume.
Therefore, we are delighted to offer our innovative closed-loop recycling initiatives.
As part of our service, we can arrange paper, battery and closed-loop workwear recycling, all of which will help reduce waste in landfill or incineration.
Electric vehicle distribution
Although purchase consolidation, sustainable products and recycling can greatly reduce your value chain emissions, most commercial delivery vehicles remain powered by diesel fuel, which isn’t good for the environment.
Our goal is to reduce the footprint of every order year on year and increase our fleet of alternative fuel vehicles, aligned to our Net Zero planning.
Currently, we have 16 electric vehicles in our dedicated fleet, serving London, Birmingham and Lutterworth regions. We are committed to removing tonnes of carbon from your supply chain and by combining our electric vehicles and our fleet of Euro VI engine vans, we are sure we will be able to achieve this goal.
With our sites operating on 100% certified renewable energy, we are creating a sustainable way to purchase your supplies and services.
Upcycling
Waste is a design flaw. If you add it back into the supply chain, it stops being waste and becomes a resource.
As well as our waste paper being processed into new recycled paper, our upcycling process also allows us to take certain waste streams from our customers and re-imagine them in a new context – a suite of recycled stationery products, made from your own waste.
From your paper, confidential waste and other forms of waste, we have the ability to transform it all into a lovely new resource.
Books and pads are available right now from our Used To Be range.
- Reduce landfill waste
- Reduce GHG emissions
- Demonstrate responsible
- Waste management
- Make procurement more sustainable
- Standard or personalised covers
- Option to print messages inside
- Enjoy your 100% recycled notebooks
Recycled, branded stationery products made from your own company waste are a great way to advertise your company’s environmental credentials!