Eland Cables' latest Sustainability Report published
Eland Cables is pleased to announce the release of our annual Sustainability Report, outlining our progress in reducing carbon emissions for the year ending December 2023. We can report a 24.8% reduction (intensity ratio per £m turnover).
Such a reduction is a mammoth success for any company but particularly one with industrial and logistics operations. It rewards the significant investment, both in financial terms and in our time and effort, we have made into seeking ways to reduce and mitigate the carbon emissions from our operations.
A significant percentage of the reduction across Scope 1 and Scope 2 came from changes in our transport and logistics. From previously being reliant on third-party (scope 3) hauliers, we took the decision to invest in a fleet of HGVs, EVs and specialist unloading vehicles. This was driven commercially by the degree of control it gave us to deliver on-time for customers, and the understanding that delivery was a core part of our customer service commitment – but from an environmental standpoint it changed things. Quickly acquiring over 50+ vehicles and therefore moving our logistics from Scope 3 (supply chain) into Scope 1 (direct control) sent our reporting numbers skyrocketing in 2022. Recognising this, we began trials of the use of sustainable HVOs instead of diesel, but full roll-out was not until the latter part of the year. 2023 by comparison, saw the benefits of this initiative, noting a sizable drop in the emissions generated by our fleet in spite of increased turnover and mileage covered in making deliveries across Europe.
It’s not solely been driven by our fleet – energy efficiency initiatives, underpinned by our achieving ISO 50001 Energy Management, has seen us identify hotspots and make energy savings. We also added additional solar panels to match the increase in electricity demands as our business grows, with the panels continuing to generate the equivalent of 100% of our electricity requirements on an annual basis, and feeding any excess back into the Grid. Initiatives across waste management, our recycling activities, our packaging and our infrastructure management have all helped take those incremental steps forward.
We encourage our supply chain to make their own nature net-positive changes and have worked with a number to switch to renewable energy during 2023 which will provide further gains when reported next year. We recognise that 85%+ of our emissions come from the raw materials extracted and used in the manufacturing of cable – something we can’t avoid and as we grow as a business something that is likely to continue to increase - but we remain confident that advances in mining and smelting operations internationally will begin to bring these numbers down.
Like many, we recognise that an overnight shift to net-zero is not feasible (or commercially viable) so we have always taken the approach of continuous improvement, taking the best available steps available to us and being guided by a strong desire to ‘do the right thing’. We’ve been vocal at exhibitions and conferences in our belief that with Net Zero the end goal and the technology to support this still evolving and advancing, it means sustainable operations is the route to take in order to make a consistent impact. Sustainable operations is more than just the environmental benefits, but encompasses ethical practices and our responsibilities to employees and the communities we’re active in alike. Our sustainability report pulls together feedback from our staff mapped against the UN Global Compact Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and provides focus for the year ahead and shows our shared values.
We remain committed to the UN Global Compact SDGs, and to the Science Based Targets Initiative, and are in the process of being recertified by Ecovadis.
We invite you to read our report. Should you have any questions or require further information, please contact:
Deborah Graham-Wilson
Head of Communications & ESG
