Henderson Biomedical is committed to a sustainable future. We aim to do this by implementing eco-friendly measures throughout our company and working with partners who can demonstrate their green credentials. In this month’s blog, we will take a look at sustainability, why it is important and how we as a company are contributing to a greener future.

What is sustainability?

The word ‘sustainability’ can be found in the media a lot these days. The idea of sustainability is now mainstream. But what exactly does this mean? According to the 1987 Brundtland Report, sustainability can be defined as: ‘The development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’. This means we need to implement greener ways of doing things now to preserve the world for future generations to come.

Why is sustainability important?

The impacts of Climate Change can be seen everywhere. From more frequent natural disasters to a lack of food supplies, we are all experiencing the effects of Climate Change. The world is warming up and this can be seen everywhere in the world, including the UK. Last year saw the fourth hottest summer on record here. The hottest summer before that was just four years prior in 2018. Many experts are predicting hotter British summers in future, with droughts and food shortages becoming more common, as the effects of Climate Change begin to bite.

Mitigating the impacts of Climate Change is a key priority for the UK government and follows significant commitments made in the Climate Change Act to achieve net zero by 2050. This is in response to the continuing and intensifying impacts already mentioned. The aim to become net zero has filtered down into all aspects of the public sector including the NHS, which is aiming to reduce emissions by 80% by 2028 to 2032.

What Henderson Biomedical is doing to become more sustainable

Our company wants to achieve net zero by 2030.  In order to do this, we need a wholistic approach. That means looking at every aspect of our business and asking: ‘how can we do this in a greener way?’. Broadly speaking, we can categorise our emissions into three scopes as follows:

• Scope 1- Our direct emissions. Examples include company vehicles and onsite energy sources such as boilers.
• Scope 2- Our indirect emissions. For example, the energy that we purchase.
• Scope 3- Emissions that can be attributed to how the products and services come into our company what is done thereafter. Examples include employee commuting or transport and distribution of products.

With this in mind, we can now look at ways to cut our emissions and reduce our carbon footprint. Some examples include:

Energy and water

This means installing an ultra-efficient heating system in our building, ensuring that taps and lights automatically turn off after use or installing water efficient toilets. All lights will use low-energy LED lightbulbs and staff computers have screens that turn off after a certain period of inactivity. With the recent rise in cost of energy, it is not just the environment that benefits from reducing our energy consumption, but also our overall profitability.

Working with green suppliers

We are committed to collaborating with suppliers and manufacturer’s who have green credentials. Part of our supplier selection process includes questions on the company’s green capabilities.

For example, our supplier of heat sealers, Hawo implement a four-pillar approach to their commitment to sustainability. More information on this can be found via their website.

Another example is our freight forwarder, DHL, who have implemented their ‘GoGreen’ programme.

Eliminating plastic packaging

By the end on 2023, we aim to eliminate plastic from all our packaging. That means using paper instead of plastic vinyl packing tape. It also means eliminating plastic bubble wrap for packaging and instead using scrunched up paper or compostable plastic. We also aim to replace plastic documents enclosed pouches with a compostable alternative.

Maintenance and cleaning

Nowadays, there are a wealth of different eco-friendly options to choose from when buying cleaning chemicals. Our building will use environmentally friendly cleaning chemicals and these will be packaged in fully recyclable packaging. If a product is harsh on the environment or the packaging that it comes in cannot be recycled, we won’t use it.

Transportation

We encourage all staff to use public transport whenever possible to get to work or the customer’s site. We provide facilities to securely store bicycles at our site as well. We also try to consolidate deliveries of products into as few shipments as possible.

This is only a small snippet of what we are doing or aim to do as a company to minimise our carbon footprint and be net zero by 2030. For full details on what we are doing, you can email us at info@henderson-biomedical.co.uk or you can use our online form. We would be happy to share with you our Environmental Policy and and let you know what we are doing to ensure a brighter future for all.

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