Environmental Policy
We need to limit our impact on the environment and address climate change for our customers, clients and our company. Everyone must play their part in this and it is our responsibility to ensure that the growth we deliver is sustainable.
Under our commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), we have identified three Global Goals through which we can make the greatest contribution on the environment:
• Responsible Consumption and Production
• Climate Action
• Sustainable Cities and Communities
To deliver on our commitment to these goals, we have developed a comprehensive package of programmes so that we can:
1. Contribute to economic development by helping other businesses to thrive;
2. Deliver sustainability for a better world;
3. Operate transparently and responsibly in all that we do.
We have set ambitious targets to reduce our environmental footprint and we rigorously examine our policies and practices to ensure consistency across all parts of our network.
The purpose of this policy is to establish and articulate the Environmental Policy of NewFlex and its constituent business areas, in line with our overall ESG Strategy, and set out how we will guide decision-making and behaviour.
Scope
Concern for the environment and promoting a broader sustainability agenda are integral to NewFlex’s public-facing commercial activities and its internal operational framework.
NewFlex recognises that it requires active participation and cooperation from key stakeholders to deliver successfully on its commitments on the environment and sustainability. To that end, this policy applies directly to all NewFlex employees as well as all third parties including partners and suppliers who work with the business or who undertake work on its behalf.
Key Principles
To guide its approach to minimising its impact on the environment and addressing climate change, NewFlex has adopted a set of key principles.
These principles are that NewFlex will:
• comply with, and exceed where practicable, all applicable environmental legislation, regulations and codes of practice;
• integrate sustainability considerations into business decisions and its approach to risk and opportunity management;
• optimise and reduce its business inputs across energy, paper, and single-use plastics;
• assess and minimise its outputs across waste and overall carbon emissions in order to eliminate waste to landfill and achieve carbon neutrality across business operations (building dependent);
• set targets for, undertake regular reviews on and ensure continuous improvement of environmental and sustainability performance;
• communicate regularly on progress and achievements against its environmental commitments;
• raise awareness of environmental issues and deliver training and education to employees to encourage responsible behavior and empower them to play a leading role; and,
• communicate and engage with suppliers, partners and clients to encourage them to adopt equivalent (or superior) sustainability management practices.
Policy
1. Optimise inputs
To optimise and reduce its inputs, NewFlex’s position on the use of energy, paper and single-use plastics is that all business centres should endeavour to:
• reduce the energy consumption of existing office equipment, purchase equipment with better energy efficiency and practice good housekeeping at every opportunity;
• purchase, where possible, electricity from suppliers committed to renewable energy, maximise the proportion of energy from renewable sources and support investment in renewable energy schemes;
• encourage staff to walk, cycle or use public or electric transport; reduce travel to meetings through practical alternatives;
• revise working arrangements for staff where possible to minimise commuting except from their principal place of residence to their principal place of work; leverage new technologies to provide staff with viable alternatives to paper and deliver associated increases in efficiency and productivity; and,
• discourage and/or avoid the procurement of single-use plastics across all activities and operations and revise procurement policies and processes to favour alternatives.
2. Reduce outputs
NewFlex is committed to doing its part to limit the rise in global temperature and has set a goal to achieve Net Zero emissions for carbon in its utility use and transport by 2030.
It will achieve this through Streamlined Energy & Carbon Reporting (SECR), which includes reporting on greenhouse gas emissions (in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent) and intensity metrics to quantify its impact per employee. NewFlex will use the Carbon Roadmap along with energy efficiency solutions, low- carbon and renewable energy generation and purchase, as well as carbon offsetting to achieve its Net Zero emissions goal.
NewFlex’s position on waste is that all business centres should ensure that most of their output contributes to building a circular economy rather than going to landfill and it will track waste, where possible, to ensure recovery or recycling across all business locations and encourage sharing best practice across the network.
NewFlex is also committed to sending No Waste to Landfill by 2035. NewFlex has adopted the Five R’s principle of Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose and Recycle on waste production and complies fully with the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002.
3. Advocate for sustainability
NewFlex is committed to being a positive influence on the communities in which it operates and will not pollute or cause health issues for those living in those communities or local wildlife through business waste or by-products.
The Head of H&S Compliance overseen by the Estates Director, is responsible for implementing programmes to deliver environmental training and education to staff and increasing the level of communication and engagement to empower positive behavioral changes at work and at home.
In support of this, and in recognition of the importance of being proactive, NewFlex operates a volunteering scheme to support the companies chosen volunteering initiative – providing up to 2 days per annum for full-time employees (pro-rated for part time employees) to participate in green initiatives.
Continuous improvement
NewFlex recognises that, in pursuit of its objectives, it has an opportunity to consider and minimise the environmental impact of its activities through continuous improvement.
To that end, NewFlex’s EMS operates on a Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle as illustrated below.
To support this approach, NewFlex controls its activities, promotes the use of sustainable resources, and discourages wasteful or damaging practices. It also works with its staff, suppliers, clients, and customers to promote environmentally sound practices and its ethos of environmental responsibility.