Following the launch of CCL’s Greener Routes carbon tracking initiative, we’re keen to explain how sustainability has always been one of our core values. Here Julie Shennan, CCL’s Content Marketing Manager, talks to Jayne Lea, CCL’s Environmental Champion, about the ongoing efforts to reduce its carbon footprint.
How it started
Having joined CCL over 15 years ago, Jayne explained that its environmental focus was one of the key things that attracted her to the business.
She said: “CCL has had sustainability in its business values long before I joined, it was part of [our CEO] Callum’s interests already, so he brought that to the company.”
Since its founding in 1999, CCL has acted to implement environmentally friendly practices in its workplaces, such as reducing and recycling waste materials.
However, in 2009 it elevated these efforts by securing the ISO 14001 accreditation, for Environmental Management.
An internationally recognised standard, ISO 14001 outlines the criteria companies must meet to reduce the carbon emissions in their workplaces and supply chains. To help businesses meet these goals, the ISO manual maps a framework to build an effective Environmental Management System.
ISO 14001
Jayne explained: “When we first got the ISO 14001 manual, we wrote down the different processes we had and those that we were going to implement. Then through the course of the year, every section of the manual was audited internally, and finally we had an external audit.”
Now having gained the ISO 14001 standard, CCL maintains it by following best practice processes and seeking new opportunities to reduce its CO2e. Each year environmental measures are examined, and their business costs and benefits debated.
Jayne added: “We have now put LED lighting in our building in Troon. We assessed it for a few years and in 2022 we changed all the lighting.”
Ideas for carbon savings are addressed by CCL’s Environmental Team and recorded in its Environmental Action Plan meetings.
Jayne said: “There is so much to discuss that our meeting agendas have grown from 10 to 20 points.”
The team always keep their ear to the ground for new ideas of environmentally friendly business practices.
This increased vigilance has seen CCL start to monitor the CO2e from hotel stays and business car mileage. In 2022 CCL pledged to phase out its non-electric business cars.
Jayne added: “We have reduced emissions by making all of our new business cars electric.”
Carbon Champions Project
As well as these big changes, CCL adopted a more structured approach to its environmental planning, as Jayne and Callum joined the University of the West of Scotland Carbon Champions Project.
The Project gives consultancy and training to individuals, so that they can recognise opportunities for sustainability within their own organisations, and influence change.
As well as this, the Project helps businesses contribute to the UK Government goal of reaching Net Zero (negating the amount of greenhouse gases produced by human activity) by 2050.
Jayne said: “The Project covered COP26, including details of the Government’s environmental commitments, and it talked about Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions.”
After taking part in the Carbon Champion Course, CCL updated its Environmental Action Plan to have more depth and to be sorted into Scopes. This helped the business visualise how it is working towards the Government's Net Zero Goal.
Jayne added: “When thinking about CCL’s environmental actions, Scope 1 and 2 are already managed effectively, but Scope 3 - the one that relates to suppliers - is something we’ll need to delve deeper into.
“When sourcing supplies, we really want to know where their materials are manufactured, what process the manufacturer uses, whether they have ISO 14001, and if they are reusing/ recycling. We don’t currently track this for all our office supplies, but in the future, I can see this being tracked.”
Jayne explained the challenge of monitoring Scope 3 emissions, for something even as small as printer paper.
She said: “The copy paper that I order is from trees cut down in Europe, it is then made and delivered to the UK. I had a business in Kilmarnock who wanted to supply to our Troon office as a ‘local’ provider, but their paper came from China, so it had a larger carbon footprint.”
The Carbon Disclosure Project
Keen to share the strides it has taken to increase sustainability, CCL has completed a CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project) questionnaire. Now CCL’s sustainability profile joins that of over 18,700 other businesses in the CDP database. This is the largest environmental database in the world, and it is used to increase transparency on CO2e, which helps the global drive toward Net Zero.
Jaynie said: “We have developed a declaration on the CDP to show our customers where we are coming from and where we are going.”
Sedex Declaration
As well as submitting data to the CDP, CCL has also worked with Sedex (a leading technology platform that helps companies manage and report on sustainability performance) to outline its sustainability goals.
Jaynie explained: “I have been working on a Sedex declaration that looks at CCL’s environmental initiatives from a CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) point of view, for instance checking the training that we do with our people.”
Every CCL new start gets environmental training, which includes instructing them how to recycle and save electricity in the office. This ensures all CCLers understand and support the businesses’ green goals.
Jayne said: “As part of our Carbon Champions Project we also get to work with consultants on our sustainability goals. We aim to put in place a five-year plan to plot our route to Net Zero.”
Greener Routes
CCL is also helping its customers work towards Net Zero with its new carbon calculator Greener Routes. No matter how complex a business’s supply chain is, it can use Greener Routes through CCL’s technology platform, myCCL, to help measure, manage and minimise its upstream and downstream emissions. myCCL does this by showing users the CO2e for all their shipments by carrier, country, customer or mode of transport.
Jaynie concluded: “Our Greener Routes initiative helps our suppliers and customers with their Scope 3 emissions and that’s a fantastic thing that helps us do our bit for the environment.”