Consort is going Green!
During the past few months work has been on going to look at what we should be doing to provide some resilience against higher energy costs & loss of energy due to worldwide issues, how we could do this AND still make steps to reduce our Carbon Footprint.
Caring for our customers, products and staff goes beyond our core business function and therefore we are really pleased to be working with Auditel on two key projects which will help us focus on our business, and personal responsibilities, to be as green as we can.
Auditel has worked with the Consort group for many years, helping us to achieve savings on our energy and vehicle fuel costs, therefore they were the obvious choice when it came to seeking a partner to assist with our green goals.
Project 1 – Solar PV
As heavy users of electricity our three depots in the Southeast are currently assessing the value of Solar PV. Working with Auditel specialists Solar PV has been identified as a suitable investment for us. Such a project will serve to significantly reduce costs within the business, particularly in view of the recent price increases in imported electricity. By installing a Solar PV project behind the meter, our business will secure a significant physical hedge against future energy price volatility and by generating up to 33% of our own energy, we will reduce the CO2 emissions generated and thus our impact on the environment.
Currently we are assessing tenders from companies who can carry out this work. This will be followed by site surveys, confirmation of costings and if all is agreed a timetable of when the works can be done. We will keep you informed of progress through the Newsletter.
Project 2 – Mapping our Carbon Footprint
In addition to the above we are also engaging with Auditel to map our current carbon footprint. This will help us to clearly see where we can reduce the environmental impact of our operation, both up and down stream. Working through Scope 1, 2 & 3 our aim is to become Verified Carbon Neutral to PAS 2060.
To accomplish this, we will be supplying Auditel with lots of information regarding our suppliers, service providers, how we distribute to our customers and how we manage our premises and vehicles. In addition, you will receive a request to complete an online staff survey (fully confidential) linked to your commuting and other green issues, please complete this as soon as you can.
Our aim is that by the end of October 2023 we will know what our current Carbon Footprint is and where we all may be able to make changes to reduce and/or offset this. At this stage we will be involving you all to help us identify and implement changes.
Finally, you will see we have a new Green version of the Consort logo. Going forward this will be used for all internal and external communication regarding our green initiatives
Auditel & Consort Frozen Foods
Consort Frozen Foods are delighted to announce that they have joined forces with their Carbon Partner, Auditel, to deliver on their strategic objective of reaching Net Zero.
Andrew Rewell, Operations Manager for Consort Frozen Foods comments.
“The Consort Group cares about being the best in frozen distribution. We care about having the best customer/supplier relationships to enable us to provide the best service in the market. We are proud of what we do and care about providing the best environment for our teams to reach their potential.
Auditel has been helping the Consort Group achieve savings on our energy and vehicle fuel costs for many years, therefore they were the obvious choice when it came to seeking a partner to assist with our green goals. Mapping our Carbon footprint will help us to focus on where we need to reduce our environmental impact, while installing Solar PV will generate 33% of our own energy, cut costs and reduce our CO2 emissions.
Caring for our customers, products and staff goes beyond our core business function and therefore we are really pleased to be working with Auditel on two key projects which will help us focus on our business and personal responsibilities to be as green as we can.
We are delighted to have engaged with Auditel to map our current carbon footprint to allow us to clearly see where we can reduce the environmental impact of our operation, both up and down stream, and our aim is to become Verified Carbon Neutral to PAS 2060.
In addition to the above, working with Auditel specialists has identified Solar PV as a suitable investment for us as a heavy user of electricity at our three depots in the South East. The main consideration for installing Solar PV is to generate up to 33% of our own energy, which will reduce our CO2 emissions and thus our impact on the environment.
Such a project will also serve to significantly reduce costs within the business, particularly in view of the recent price increases in imported electricity. By installing a PV project behind the meter, our business will secure a significant physical hedge against future energy price volatility.”
Solar PV
The installation of the solar panels at both depots is underway. Contractors have arrived on site at Burgess Hill to erect the scaffold tower and the panels themselves have also arrived (there’s a lot of them!!!). The work will take approximately two weeks at which time the contractors will move onto the Ashford depot.
This is not only a truly momentous milestone in the history of Consort, but also in our journey to be carbon net zero. The installation of Solar PV (PV = Photovoltaic, which means materials and devices used to convert sunlight into electrical energy……just in case you were wondering!) will do several things:
- kick start and shape our carbon net zero journey;
- provide some resilience against future fuel price rises; and
- enable us to look at new ways of working that utilise the power generated by the Solar PV.
The work may cause some disruption to your working day; however, we ask that you recognise the future value that this will create and work along with your manager to minimise the disruption. Please accord the workers on site the same kindness that we afford to each other, by being courteous, allowing them to use the staff facilities and even offering them an ice cream or two.
Our Carbon Footprint
Over the last few months a huge amount of work has been undertaken to collate data that will be used to calculate our current carbon footprint. The data has included (for 2022):
- details of every delivery that we have received from every supplier during 2022, including delivery dates, quantities, weights, mode of transport and the post codes of where the delivery came from and which depot it was delivered to;
- information regarding courier deliveries such as from Amazon, Lyreco etc.;
- electricity, gas and propane gas usage;
- use of refrigerant gases in the cold store and vehicle refrigeration systems;
- general waste and recycling contracts and data on collection frequency; and
- business trips, mileage covered, accommodation used, and costs incurred.
In previous communications it has been mentioned that a staff survey will be sent out to capture how we all get to work. Sorry for the delay in getting this to you, we are working on the process, so please keep a look out in your personal emails.
Once all the above data has been collected our partners, Auditel, will work behind the scenes to provide us with our current footprint. This will be our ‘Square 1’ as it were, from which we can measure how all future endeavours are helping us come closer to our Net Zero objective.
In addition, Auditel will help us analyse and quantify what it is that we ALL can be doing to reduce our footprint, this will include finding out form you if you have any ideas, thoughts or examples of what others have done, so that we can learn from others.
