Environment

One of our core values is to deliver and champion environmental best practice, so we take our environmental responsibilities very seriously. Our Group’s environmental communication and action brand, known as ‘The 4R Plan’, focuses on delivering continual improvements through reducing impact, reusing resources, recycling materials and adopting recovery principles.

How we are making a difference together through The 4R Plan

Within the Group we have ambitious targets for the 4R Plan stretching to 2020 which include:

  • 100% grid electricity purchased from renewable or low carbon sources by end of 2018 – ACHIEVED
  • Reduce relative energy consumption by 30% by end of 2020, against 2008 baseline
  • Achieve 90% total reuse/recycling across the Group by end of 2030
  • All edible food waste from our operations captured for human consumption by end of 2030
  • Food waste from production halved by end of 2020
  • Reduce relative water consumption by 30% by end of 2020, against 2016 baseline

The impact of the 4R Plan has been significant in respect of engaging our people around a set of common goals and achieving demonstrable improvements in our environmental sustainability journey.

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Walker & Son water-saving project

With the recent introduction of Carbon Desktop, a tool for monitoring and targeting utility usage, to our Walker Charnwood Bakery site we have been able to identify a number of opportunities to help us reduce water consumption. One of those opportunities was in the bakery wash area.

We installed a new water meter back in May 2017 which highlighted that a key piece of equipment was responsible for almost 25% of the sites usage of water.

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Sustainable construction for new distribution centre

When we build new factories and warehouses within the Group, we build with sustainable construction high on our agenda. A good example is the Samworth Brothers Supply Chain (SBSC) distribution centre at the Leicester Distribution Park which was constructed to the rigorous BREEAM standard ratings.

BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) is the world’s leading sustainability assessment method for infrastructure and buildings. SBSC chose to build to the BREEAM rating and not simply to adhere to regulatory building requirements. It was fully committed to taking a sustainable approach during the construction of the 165,000 square feet site which opened in autumn 2017.

​Green electricity pledge

Samworth Brothers is now purchasing all our grid supplied electricity from certified renewable sources. The move will deliver over 45,000 tonnes of carbon savings per year, equivalent to taking 8,700 cars off UK roads for the same period.

All Samworth Brothers 19 businesses across the UK made the switch on October 1st 2017 achieving zero carbon emissions in this area.

The Group is working with Smartestenergy as its electricity provider, delivering renewable sources through the Smartestenergy’s Natural Renewable option. The scheme has certification from the Carbon Trust. The scheme’s Carbon Trust endorsement certifies that every megawatt hour supplied will be from wind, solar or hydro generators, backed by UK recognised origin certificates, which trace the electricity supply from source to supply.

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