Green Business Journal 06

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FOREWORD

IS COP FIT FOR PURPOSE?

Has the world just bought a one-way ticket to ‘climate hell,’ as one COP27 delegate claimed?

The usual clamour for ‘action not words’ fell on the sword of political expediency with a hastily watered-down final agreement.

It was agreed that richer nations should compensate poorer countries for climate change loss and damage. But there was still absolutely no commitment to the total phasing out of fossil fuels - the very visible elephant in the room, and the very reason why we are hurtling towards environmental catastrophe.

It’s all a sign of the collective lack of appetite for radical change as the global economy slows and a crisis-weary public grapples with austerity.

There’s no doubt the world is distracted by shortterm challenges. But it’s not over-dramatic to say that climate change remains by far our most pressing challenge. Feeding a hungry population, protecting the environment and safeguarding resources are all inextricably linked to it.

The glory days of Paris 2015 -- when almost every country on earth pledged to support the 1.5°C global warming target - are long gone. Perhaps COP needs to be streamlined, perhaps it has become too much of a platform for political showboating, rather than a trailblazing force for change.

That’s why it’s more important than ever to stay focused and remember the progress that has been made in only seven short years.

Although the UN recently forecast that global warming and emissions will both breach 2°C, this is actually below the original 3.5°C prediction made in 2015. As they say, every 10th of a degree counts!

This issue of Green Business Journal showcases the innovative work of business and academia which are stepping up to the mark, with a clear focus on weathering current storms and sticking to long-term solutions.

These include Simon Mellin, CEO of The Modern Milkman, who is on a mission to tackle our ever-growing mountain of food and drink waste, and Dr Kapil Garg of Cranfield University, who investigates the solar race to turn seawater into drinking water.

Meanwhile, getting our post-COP27 priorities right will be key to success, says fellow contributor Dr Renuka Thakore, winner of Global SDG’s Women Ambassador Award 2022. These include putting life sciences at the heart of our decision making, large-scale collaboration, and further embracing technology. If we can all stick together, she says, we could still avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

Editor,

Karen Southern

Green Business Journal

CONTENTS issue 06

Big Interview 6|9

Sustainable grocer The Modern Milkman has poured new life into the traditional milk round. Founder and CEO Simon Mellin tells Karen Southern about his mission to put a bit of the old High Street back on our doorsteps… and curb our obsession with plastic.

Green Tech 10|13

Sustainable supply chains have come to the top of the agenda for many business leaders, says Jessica McGoverne, Director of Policy and Corporate Affairs at Sedex.

Green Tech 14|15

Apparel brands must dump their wasteful image, fast. Debbie Shakespeare, RBIS Avery Dennison, offers practical tips to help the industry cut its Scope 3 emissions.

Green Tech 20|21

Green-minded shoppers are being conned when they should be rewarded. It’s time for green biz to fight back, says Daniel Hemsley, co-founder of Beagle Button.

Recycling 26|28

Engineering expert Ian Hart, of adi Projects, says the food and drink sector can make a real difference to contribute positively discusses the benefits of recycling wastewater.

Recycling 30|31

If nothing changes, a quarter of all recycling could be contaminated by 2030, says David Heaton of Biffa. Nearly one fifth (17%) of waste in England & Wales can’t be recycled due to contamination.

Energy 36|39

Finding the most sustainable — and financially viable — means of re-using seawater has become an imperative. Dr Kapil Garg, Research Fellow in Heat Engineering, Cranfield University, investigates.

Energy 44|45

Can human waste provide a solution for sustainable aviation? Cranfield University - academic partner to industry lead Green Fuels Research and energy services company Petrofac -- has already proven the viability of this approach, as Dr Ying Jiang reports.

Energy 52|55

The North East is the UK’s leading hydrogen hub, with two major blue hydrogen projects shortlisted for support from the government’s £1bn Infrastructure Fund..

Environment 58|59

COP26 was seen by many as our last chance to avoid irreparable climate damage, says Dr Renuka Thakore, lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire. A year later, with a global economic crisis looming, adding to soaring energy costs and political conflicts worldwide, 200 leaders gathered in Egypt for the COP27 climate summit.

Environment 62|63

As green organisations band together to criticise the Government’s failure to meet its own legal deadline for setting new air quality targets, UK100 is adding its voice to the chorus of condemnation.

Net Zero 64|67

Helping creatives ‘walk the walk’. Sam Wilson, CEO of Syntiro Associates, and Dale Parmenter, CEO of DRPG, discuss sustainability in the creative industry.

Net Zero 70|71

An efficient, reliable and sustainable fast charging network across Scotland is imperative if the country is to convince more drivers to make the transition to electric vehicles, says Electric Vehicle Association Scotland.

Net Zero 74|75

Can TIC save the world (again)? Bennet Summers, of OC&C Strategy Consultants, argues that TIC has a strong role to play in sustainability.

Editor

Karen Southern karen.southern@distinctivegroup.co.uk

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MODERN MILKMAN: COMBINING CONVENIENCE WITH CONSCIENCE

Sustainable grocer The Modern Milkman has poured new life into the traditional milk round. Founder and CEO Simon Mellin tells Karen Southern about his mission to put a bit of the old High Street back on our doorsteps… and curb our obsession with plastic.

“People don’t understand food anymore,” says Simon.

With his family background in farming, the Lancashire lad knows what he’s talking about.

“I grew up working in my dad’s butcher’s shop and on the farm - ‘hard labour’ wasn’t a thing to be worried about then,” he adds dryly, “so I got a really rounded experience of the food industry from a very young age.”

He concedes that he didn’t always see eye to eye with his father: “He was quite a tough character, and I didn’t appreciate just how much he taught me about basic life skills and retail until later in life.”

It’s those early lessons that have shaped Simon’s pragmatic approach to food and waste.

As he points out, once upon a time - in the days before cheap refrigeration, consumerism revolved around the concept of ‘little and often’.

People would pop to the shops every few days to buy the necessities from local suppliers, who in turn bought from local farmers. Careful

food management throughout the supply chain guaranteed little to no waste.

But then the supermarkets moved in and as goods flooded the marketplace, consumers became more distant from the producer. The result? Cheap food and massive amounts of plastic waste, both generated in increasingly unsustainable amounts.

Simon adds, “Everyone is scrambling to fix the problem now, but it’s difficult because consumers have developed such a specific mindset and sentiment around food.”

It’s a challenge, however, that Simon and his team at Modern Milkman, are tackling head-on, with impressive results.

Since launching their first milk round in 2018, “with one beat-up truck which struggled to go uphill”, the Modern Milkman now sells drinks in returnable glass bottles, and groceries in reusable packaging, to customers across the UK from 16 regional hubs… all through their App and website, both developed in-house.

Milks are sourced and sold locally, supporting British dairy farming. The bottles are collected, washed and reused. Any packaging that’s not reusable is plastic free, recyclable or home compostable (including teabags).

Modern Milkman estimates their waste reduction to date is equivalent to nearly 60 million plastic bottles… or 139,000 wheelie bins of plastic saved from landfill.

Put simply, they’ve revived the High Street concept with a modern eco twist.

Starting out, Simon candidly admits that the penny didn’t properly drop at first. “But then three months in, I thought ‘hang on!’, this little and often delivery schedule really works, so why don’t people use it anymore? Back in the 80s, 85% of households got doorstep deliveries, and that had dropped down to around 2%. Why?”

The simple answer was that doorstep delivery hadn’t kept up with the times, “so we developed our App to start understanding usage rates and optimisation.”

It didn’t take long to identify why the general public had fallen so out of love with their daily milk delivery. “Cash is a dying thing, people aren’t at home so often, there’s high expectations around managing orders. No one leaves a note in a milk bottle now!

“The problem is that items like bread, eggs and milk are cheap and easy to use, so you’re not that bothered about a bit of waste. But then when you roll out their use across 26 million households, the impact of all that food waste and plastic packaging gets pretty significant.”

The Modern Milkman’s mission was set.

Its success and forward-thinking ethos is all the more remarkable because Simon left school with no formal qualifications after falling out with his dad. “I suppose you could say I learned everything in the school of life.” He trained as a mechanic, and ended up building racing cars for Ferrari Porsche, Aston Martin, as well as doing a lot of endurance racing.

“Through this I met some pretty ‘crazy’ peoplemainly self-made - who taught me a load of stuff about business. But the whole experience also

made me realise that people didn’t understand food anymore. Their connection to it, and understanding of where it came from, was being completely lost.

“This really scared me, so in my early 20s I moved back home and started my own food business with ethical sourcing. It’s always been my aim to reconnect consumers with food.”

Having worked with Hello Fresh as a wholesale supplier, and always on the alert for a new opportunity, Simon spotted a gap in the market for “small basket, high-frequency deliveries,” and Modern Milkman was born. “At the time, back in 2018, the digitisation of groceries and the whole process of ordering food online in different verticals really resonated with me.

“I was also very heavily influenced by David Attenborough, having seen the environmental damage caused by plastic on the Blue Planet TV series, and the role played by ‘big box’ retailers in these huge food supply chains.”

While Simon concedes that plastic is an amazing material and great for extending shelf life, he is adamant that things must change - and fast!

“Most of the Modern Milkman’s drinks are in glass bottles but we also use home compostable packaging.

“The technology around developing new ranges only goes so far at the minute, so we are investing quite heavily in R&D for new types of packaging that extend into foodstuffs beyond liquids. For instance, yoghurts in returnable glass jars, packaging for rice and pasta. Current competitor packaging solutions are really expensive, and they have to charge big deposits for them.

“This kind of thing puts a barrier in front of a customer when you’re trying to change buying habits, so we’ve got to make the process as frictionless as possible.”

Modern Milkman is now collaborating with American materials science and packaging experts Avery Dennison to find workarounds to these problems, including RFIDs (Radio Frequency Identification technology) which track products for better life cycle analysis.

I’m proud that Modern Milkman has brought the spotlight back onto the industry. There are still a lot of independent local milkmen out there, and our work has helped revive interest. Not everyone wants to shop through technology, and it’s great if we’ve played a part in that traditional resurgence.

It’s very plain to see how passionate Simon is about food, agriculture and farming, and the whole issue of getting back to a new kind of basics. “It’s so easy to turn your back on things, and not recognise their value until they disappear.

“This happened with the High Street, but now everyone is crying out for it again. Our customersyoung and old - have really embraced our technology. The older generation maybe hadn’t digitised towards groceries so much, but now they give some of the best feedback. There’s still a powerful nostalgia around the service of getting milk on the doorstep.

“Our data analysis provided by ThoughtSpot is very sophisticated - we can track just about everything from usage and pause rates, how products are performing from a qualitative and quantitative perspective, and this all helps us to optimise more. We work with suppliers on certain points that customers might not like and monitor usage to help reduce waste.

“In fact, I’d say we are a data business overall, and via ThoughtSpot, we have been able to massively improve our service, and helped our customers cut waste both as households and consumers.”

What sustainability advice would Simon give to start-ups entering the ultra-competitive world of consumables?

“It’s very easy to scare people off talking about waste and carbon. As a brand, we try not to be

condescending and tell people what to do. None of us are perfect, we’ve all got to work together to fix the problem. I would say ‘Focus on one thing, look for a solution but be aware that you can’t achieve everything at once.

“For instance, our core mission has always been to help fix the plastic problem; people say, ‘But you’ve got diesel vans!’ We’re aware of that, but we’re concentrating on fixing one big problem before scaling up our mission.”

Long term, expansion of products and delivery areas are on the cards, but for now - given market conditions - Simon really wants to look after existing customers and improve their shopping experience with a bigger waste-free range. The team is also working with several Yorkshire diaries to extend bottling infrastructure further south.

“I’m proud that Modern Milkman has brought the spotlight back onto the industry. There are still a lot of independent local milkmen out there, and our work has helped revive interest. Not everyone wants to shop through technology, and it’s great if we’ve played a part in that traditional resurgence.

“The more we can help the industry, the more it helps shift the mindset away from all the bad habits we’ve build as consumers over the past 30 years. ‘A rising tide lifts all boats’, as they say!”

More information at themodernmilkman.co.uk

Doorstep deliveries with a modern twist.

SIMON MELLIN CEO, Modern Milkman

themodernmilkman.co.uk

USING THE POWER OF DATA TO BUILD A SUSTAINABLE SUPPLY CHAIN

Sustainable supply chains have come to the top of the agenda for many business leaders, says Jessica McGoverne, Director of Policy and Corporate Affairs at Sedex.

This is due to growing legislation around business sustainability, investors’ increased focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues,

as well as the rising climate crisis. Covid-19, inflation and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine have also exposed the vulnerabilities of today’s global supply chains.

JESSICA MCGOVERNE Director of Policy & Corporate Affairs, Sedex

Consumers too have become far more knowledgeable about unethical practices. Deloitte reveals that 29% of all UK consumers have stopped purchasing from certain brands because they had sustainabilityrelated concerns about them. Investors are far more conscious of the reputational and financial risks associated with unsustainable practices. Lawmakers recognise investors’ and consumers’ demands for accurate information on business sustainability - the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) recently launched a new paper to help investors make more informed ESG investment decisions, and help consumers navigate brands’ sustainability claims.

Situations within supply chains can also change quickly. Many activities associated with improving sustainability can help companies respond to these changes. For instance, employing technology to map complex global supply chains in greater detail is essential for making more sustainable decisions, and helps businesses anticipate how their supply chains would be affected by disruption - allowing them to respond accordingly.

Having a sustainable supply chain is no longer a nice to have - it’s a critical requirement. Data and technology play an essential role in enabling businesses to achieve this.

Sustainability in supply chains

A sustainable supply chain uses environmentally and socially sustainable practices at every stage, to protect the people and ecosystems across the whole chain. This means a company needs to consider the environmental and social standards across both their own operations and those of their suppliers.

Environmental issues include soil degradation, deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, and water security. Social concerns consider areas such as working conditions, forced

labour, employment terms, and health and safety. A truly sustainable supply chain considers all of these issues and more.

Integrating social and environmental concerns

Climate change is a high-profile issue, and more than eight in 10 people say they are concerned about climate change. The ability to monitor and measure many environmental issues also means that the environmental impact of supply chains can be easier to focus on than social. However, social issues are equally critical and inextricably linked to environmental concerns.

For example, when the impacts of climate change, such as flash floods and droughts, cause people to leave local areas, these displaced individuals become more vulnerable to forms of exploitation such as forced labour. This is because migrant workers are more vulnerable to mistreatment than other groups of people. Similarly, businesses need to consider how more environmentally friendly solutions might affect workers and communities.

Green initiatives should never be implemented at the expense of people’s rights.

Companies need to understand their suppliers’ locations, operations, the people who work for them, and their working conditions in order to manage both social and environmental issues in their supply chains. With supply networks often spanning numerous countries and industries, it is incredibly difficult to obtain this knowledge. Only by having data-led insights about their supply chain can companies gain a truly holistic view of how their business decisions and activities affect people and environments.

Utilising the power of data

With the right data, businesses can build greater visibility into their supply chain. Sophisticated technologies exist that enable companies to gather,

With site-level data, companies can analyse and compare not only supplier risks but also the risks at individual facilities, informed by data on areas such as worker demographics, how natural resources are used, and management processes.

store, analyse and report on this information. Armed with this insight, organisations can prioritise where they act to drive positive change and minimise negative impacts.

For example, data-led risk assessment tools enable businesses to conduct a sustainability risk assessment of themselves and their supply chains, by country, sector and site, efficiently on a global scale. Supply chain mapping - gathering data to map how products and services are produced, where, and by whom, is also essential. Some countries have higher rates of exploitative practices like child labour and are therefore considered higher risk for those issues. Knowing where suppliers are located helps to understand the magnitude of the risks and take action accordingly.

With site-level data, companies can analyse and compare not only supplier risks but also the risks at individual facilities, informed by data on areas such as worker demographics, how natural resources are used, and management processes. This insight brings numerous benefits to a business that go far beyond building visibility. Detailed

knowledge of a supply chain is also essential for complying with certain laws relating to business activities, such as Germany’s recent Supply Chain Due Diligence Act, Norway’s Transparency Act, and modern slavery legislation across the globe.

Supply chains: A missing link for sustainability

Stakeholders are demanding greater transparency from companies on how they address social and environmental risks. This is only possible if a business has a thorough understanding of their supply chain and the operations, people, and communities within it.

With the correct data tools and technology, companies can take effective action to build a more sustainable supply chain, demonstrate tangible progress to stakeholders, and enjoy numerous additional benefits - reduced negative environmental and social impact, better continuity in a crisis, and ultimately a more robust, efficient supply chain.

TRENDING NOW: FASHION’S ECO MAKEOVER!

Apparel brands must dump their wasteful image... and fast. Debbie Shakespeare, RBIS Avery Dennison, offers practical tips to help the industry cut its Scope 3 emissions.

Behind the glitz and glamour, the fashion industry has a grimy problem. It generates up to 10% of global carbon dioxide output1 - more than international flights and shipping combined. Waste is an issue too, with 92 million tons2 of textile waste produced annually. Consequently, sustainability has become a top priority for most fashion brands. COP273 has again highlighted the urgent need for net zero commitments and a slew of legislation in the EU and North America will soon make supply chain transparency and carbon reporting for apparel items a legal requirement.

One of the biggest challenges is identifying the most impactful ways to reduce Scope 3 emissions and report on progress. Scope 3 emissions are the indirect emissions that occur upstream and downstream along the value chain of purchased goods and services, raw materials and how they are produced, right through to use and disposal at end of life. According to McKinsey4, Scope 3 emissions can account for as much as 98% of the total carbon footprint of fashion retailers. And while some brands and retailers have voluntarily reported their Scope 3 emissions, many can’t pinpoint how to start reducing these elements of their carbon footprint.

Practical ways to tackle Scope 3 emissions:

Source recycled textiles

To reduce Scope 3 emissions, brands will increasingly seek out sustainable and circular materials in the products they choose to manufacture and stock, for instance, sourcing more environmentally friendly textiles, such as post-consumer recycled products. Even garment care labels can be made from recycled materials, so it’s worth scouring the market for suppliers who can provide eco-options.

Encourage shoppers to return & recycle

Retailers can introduce ‘take back’ of items for resale or reverse logistics and recycling at the end of life. This will require collaboration; creating partnerships with local resellers, recyclers, or reverse logistics providers, to ensure the

garments sold don't end up in landfill. Retailers are considering providing a future coupon for customers sending back garments for resale, which creates an immediate ROI.

Data is a necessary step toward achieving carbon neutrality and connecting a garment to a circular supply chain. As it stands, brands are often not providing the data required to achieve the next step in a garment’s life without sending it to landfill. Instead, governments are having to intervene with new legislation. For example, Extended Producer Responsibility5 (EPR) schemes on clothing and textile items are providing a real opportunity to ensure the sector’s good practices are financially supported.

With the right technology – for instance, digital product passports accessed by connected tags on garments – brands can communicate about product specifications to meet the needs of any incoming legislation and inform customers of how to recycle each item. This will also help commercial textile recyclers, by giving them composition information ensuring garments are recycled in the right way. Avery Dennison already provides digital care labels with QR codes that link to atma.io6 a data-rich online connected product cloud, to help brands communicate with their consumers and recyclers at every stage of the garment life cycle.

Streamline supply chain operations

Tighter supply chain operations can also drive down transportation emissions and textile waste. It’s possible to reduce overstocks through

RFID or digital tracking of products to ensure stores only receive what is needed, according to the Just in Time model. Research by Auburn University7 states apparel retailers without RFID had 65% inventory accuracy, while with RFID, the rate improves up to 99%.

Cutting out unnecessary transportation will immediately reduce Scope 3 carbon emissions. Instead of air freighting samples around the world, there are digital tools that enable an online approval process. It’s also better for the environment to use ocean freight for raw material and inventory movements, instead of air freight. Although slower, the carbon footprint is far lower.

It will take concerted collaboration and valid data points if supply chain partners are to reduce/ eliminate carbon impact in their operations and the materials they purchase. Supply chain transformation will only be possible once retailers and brand owners, working with their suppliers and stakeholders, can capture, record, and report emissions throughout the entire supply chain, both upstream and downstream.

Design with 3D garment technology

Adopting 3D garment technologies can reduce environmental damage caused by initial stages of product development and sample management. In digital apparel design, modifications and changes can be done virtually, without producing any waste. 3D has made great advances in design by allowing designers to quickly visualise how garments will look without needing a physical sample. In fact, companies that have used 3D for design reported declines of 50% in the number of samples needed8 and the costs involved.

Unless drastic action is taken, the apparel industry’s global emissions will increase by 50% by 2030 9 Against this backdrop, it should come as no surprise that laws to cut textile waste and emissions are being passed around the world at pace.

I’m confident that digital ID technology will enable businesses to meet their commercial, compliance, and ESG goals, particularly where Scope 3 is concerned. Solutions need to be adaptable, giving customers, partners, and end-consumers the opportunity to maximise the potential of digital product passports, as these will be central to traceability and compliance in the future.

The best way for Scope 3 emissions to be scaled down is through the entire fashion industry committing to the circular economy, adopting digital product passport technology to do so. If we can extend product life cycles and minimise waste, we’ll be on course to massively reduce fashion’s carbon impact.

Avery Dennison

DEBBIE SHAKESPEARE

Senior Director, RBIS Avery Dennison

rbis.averydennison.com

1. https://www.bloomberg. com/graphics/2022-fashionindustry-environmentalimpact/?leadSource=uverify%20 wall

2. https://globalfashionagenda. org/impact-initiatives/pulse-ofthe-industry/

3. https://cop27.eg/#/

4. https://www.mckinsey.com/ industries/retail/our-insights/ climate-sustainability-in-retailwho-will-pay

5. https://wrap.org.uk/resources/ guide/getting-ready-extendedproducer-responsibility

6. https://www.atma.io/

7. https://rfidea.co.za/stayingahead-of-the-trend-with-rfidand-digital-id/

8. https://optitex.com/wpcontent/uploads/2015/12/ Ebook_ROI3D_ENG_FINAL.pdf

9. https://quantis.com/wpcontent/uploads/2018/03/ measuringfashion_ globalimpactstudy_full-report_ quantis_cwf_2018a.pdf

Unless drastic action is taken, the apparel industry’s global emissions will increase by 50% by 2030.

UK GOVERNMENT BACKS WORLD’S FIRST ZERO-EMISSION MULTI-FUEL STATION FOR HYDROGEN AND ELECTRIC SHIPS

A consortium led by zero-emission solutions provider Unitrove (which created the world’s first liquid hydrogen bunkering facility) has won government funding to explore the development of an innovative zeroemission multi-fuel station (ZEMFS) to power hydrogen and electric ships.

The novel design concept, planned to be operational by March 2025, will use liquid hydrogen as the basis for providing three fuelling options for powering small craft: liquid hydrogen, compressed gaseous hydrogen, and electric charging.

The other winning members of the consortium include ACUA Ocean, manufacturers of hydrogenpowered maritime autonomous surface ships; Zero Emissions Maritime Technology (ZEMTech), a marine-focused project management and delivery company; and the University of Strathclyde, a leading maritime research institution. The project

is further supported by MJR Power & Automation, Orkney College UHI and the Port of Tyne.

The project is part of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition Round 2 (CMDC2) launched in May 2022, funded by the Department for Transport (DfT), and delivered in partnership with Innovate UK.

Last March, the DfT announced the biggest government investment ever in the UK commercial maritime sector, allocating £206 million to UK SHORE, a new division in the department, which will work on a number of schemes over the next three years to accelerate the design, manufacture and

operation of UK-made clean maritime technologies and unlock industry-led transition to Net Zero.

Steven Lua, CEO of Unitrove, explained: “Everyone connected with the project understands its importance, and it is down to the incredible work and collaboration of all project partners in pulling together such a compelling case that we have been awarded this money.

“The maritime industry is responsible for a significant proportion of pollutants associated with climate change and reduced air quality, and a zeroemission multi-fuel station that can power boats running either hydrogen or electricity is expected to play a significant part in reducing these emissions.”

Professor Peilin Zhou, Professor of Marine Engineering at the University of Strathclyde, added: “As a CMDC project, ZEMFS provides a unique opportunity for industry and academics to work together to tackle the challenge of

decarbonisation in shipping by providing a novel hydrogen bunkering and electric charging solution. We are extremely pleased to have such an opportunity to collaborate with partners who are real pioneers in maritime decarbonisation.”

Ian Finch, Commercial Director at Port of Tyne, said: “We are delighted to support this innovative ZEMFS project. Shipping accounts for 3% of the world’s emissions and the International Maritime Organisation has agreed to cut ships’ carbon intensity by 40% by 2030.

“This project is a key demonstrator towards this ambition and complements other low carbon projects that Port of Tyne is developing across its estate, including green hydrogen production, green shore-to-ship power solutions and becoming a carbon-neutral port by 2030.

“Furthermore, international energy company Equinor has chosen Port of Tyne as the operations and maintenance base for its Dogger Bank offshore wind farm project – the world’s largest – and the ZEMFS project will be extremely valuable to operators like Equinor who are looking to minimise emissions from their Service Operation Vessel fleet.”

Transport Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan concluded: “The UK has always been a proud seafaring nation and helping the maritime sector to be more environmentally-friendly will mean it continues to play a key role in the UK’s economy for generations to come.”

Hydrogen ships.

STEVEN LUA CEO, Unitrove unitrove.com

The International Maritime Organisation has agreed to cut ships’ carbon intensity by 40% by 2030.

£14M AWARDED TO SUSTAINABLE SMART FACTORY PROJECTS

Digital technology projects across key UK manufacturing industries have won a total of £14m to support their drive for energy efficiency, productivity and growth, with more opportunities now available.

The Sustainable Smart Factory competition, organised by UK Research and Innovation , was part of the Made Smarter innovation challenge.

The collaborative R&D event sought to identify and support digital innovations which improve sustainability in manufacturing processes, either through reduced material or energy consumption.

Twelve projects secured between £1 million and £8 million in funding, across sectors ranging from food to engineering. They included SMEs and large manufacturers, technology developers, universities and research and technology organisations.

It is estimated the projects could create 1,000 jobs in the three years after their completion, while reducing manufacturing carbon dioxide emissions by 300,000 tonnes a year, equivalent to taking nearly 65,000 cars off the road.

Winners include:

Photocentric’s solution for digitally manufactured, 3D-printed parts that can be created entirely autonomously and will challenge existing injection moulding techniques from overseas.

Deep.Meta project, which will use novel artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to help reduce energy use and carbon emissions in the steel industry.

PragmatIC Semiconductor’s project, which is looking to tackle the pollution within the electronics industry by building a new high-volume manufacturing facility that will help substantially reduce annual carbon emissions.

It is estimated the projects could create 1,000 jobs in the three years after their completion, while reducing manufacturing carbon dioxide emissions by 300,000 tonnes a year, equivalent to taking nearly 65,000 cars off the road.

Projects will run for up to two years and are expected to open the door to significant carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) savings and a cleaner manufacturing economy.

Details at made smarter innovation challenge

More funding opportunities are available, with the Made Smarter innovation digital supply chain innovation hub open for expressions of interest to run supply chain test beds.

The next collaborative R&D funding opportunity will launch in January 2023, offering a combined £6 million for industrial readiness robotics innovation projects in manufacturing operations.

PENNY

SPEND

Arecent survey of 1000 UK consumers ranked H&M, Primark and Amazon in the top five best retailers for sustainability.

While ethical consumerism grew tenfold between 1999 and 2020, the data suggests greenwashing is deeply entrenched and the positive public perception of some of the worst serial ecooffenders couldn’t be more wrong.

The term ‘greenwashing’ was first coined in the 80’s and can broadly be defined as a business making misleading claims about their environmental impact, giving customers the illusion that they care about the planet and people when in fact they are continuing their damaging practices.

Pretty greenwashing dresses

In June it was widely reported that H&M was being sued for misrepresenting their Conscious Choice line. The lawsuit alleged that H&M, in a move they later downplayed as a technical error, ignored the minus signs of some of their Higgs Index scores.

For example, if a piece had a water-use score of -20%, meaning it uses 20% more water on average, it was listed online as using 20% less.

When the Competition and Markets Authority published a new Green Claims Code to tackle

greenwashing, they reported that as much as 40% of firms’ green claims online could be misleading.

Why does this matter?

Greenwashing twists the good intentions that so many of us have and uses them against us to flog inferior products. Furthermore, a recent poll of our community revealed concerns about greenwashing as the second largest obstacle, behind price, for making more sustainable choices.

With the climate crisis upon us, it has never been more important for all of us earthlings to connect our everyday actions to our environment, which is why it is so damaging when we are deliberately misled and encouraged to gloss over the impact of our choices.

Very few people would ever buy products with labels reading ‘Made with Child Labour’ or ‘Waste from This Product Contaminates the Water We Drink and The Food We Eat’, but we inadvertently do this all the time, due to misleading information.

Every penny we spend is a vote for the world we want to live in. From your toothbrush to H&M dresses to our bank accounts and pension providers, we always have a choice, we just need that choice to be informed and not bamboozled by

‘EVERY

WE

IS A VOTE FOR THE WORLD WE WANT TO LIVE IN’

greenwashing or the lack of clear information. If you search on Amazon for a ‘bamboo toothbrush’ you’ll get 1000s of results, promising everything a budding ethical consumer would want to see, from ‘charcoal bristles’ to ‘100% biodegradable’. For something as simple as a toothbrush, there are thousands of options and no easy way of knowing which brands can be trusted and which products are genuinely sustainable. We’ve become accustomed to unparalleled convenience and can summon almost anything with the push of a button so why is it still so difficult for the average person who doesn’t have time to look up the material properties of different types of toothbrush bristles to make a simple switch?

We believe businesses and governments should be making it easier for people to reduce their impact on the planet. From baby clothes engineered to grow with your child to Christmas trees you can rent, there are great sustainable options out there - and when enough people take these options, real change is made. It’s just that for consumers finding and trusting these genuine incredible alternatives isn’t simple.

So what can genuinely eco-friendly businesses do? If the planet-first businesses of the world want to compete with the likes of Amazon, or H&M and call out the greenwashing, they cannot do it alone. Green businesses need to come together, support each other, talk about one another to their audiences to get them familiar with buying from more than one or two shops.

In the same way that our food is now labelled with calories and allergens, the government should introduce both mandatory carbon labelling, and badges that state if the product was not made using living-wage labour, or tested on animals allowing consumers to compare eco-credentials easily.

The solution

We know from our research at Beagle that the majority of consumers aren’t willing to trade down on price or functionality for an ethical alternative, but they don’t have to. In our experience, when done right, sustainable alternatives reward your decision to make a planet-friendly choice and chip away at the perception that by opting for a sustainable alternative you are somehow getting a worse or inferior product.

I founded Beagle, which is designed to help consumers find the best, genuine eco alternatives, with a mission to make greenwashing a thing of the past and help the business community reward consumers for making better choices, but the solution is far bigger than one company.

A big barrier to the success of green brands are the convenience, ease and perceived benefits that brands like Amazon can offer consumers. There is a growing awareness that these benefits are often exaggerated (prices for Prime members have been found up to 76% higher than those listed prices for non-prime users) The convenience comes with unseen but very real human and environmental costs. It is our belief that the only way to counter this is for small green brands to unite as a federation of fed-up businesses owners and make our voices heard.

So this is an invitation and a call to arms. Green businesses have a pivotal role to play in combating the climate crisis, we can achieve more together than by working alone. So, If you or a business you know about have the same green dreams as us, please reach out. Let’s work together to have a greater impact at scale.

Beagle Button is a browser extension for sustainable shopping.

DANIEL HEMSLEY Co-Founder, Beagle Button joinbeagle.com

Green businesses need to come together, support each other, talk about one another.

ALL CHANGE PLEASE, ALL CHANGE!

In the 17 years I have been involved in Research and Development Tax Relief, I have never seen so much change and uncertainty around the schemes. Q4 2022 certainly has thrown a spotlight on the Tax Reliefs like no time before.

At the start of the quarter, we were digesting the findings of the recent HMRC & ONS Statistics for the performance of the schemes and also the ONS comparison of Business Enterprise Research and Development Statistics to the R&D Tax Relief Statistics, that were also published on 29th September. In the past there has always been a significant discrepancy between the two, with the Tax Relief statistics always throwing out a far larger number. However, it was “all change” in the BERD statistics as the ONS looked at their modelling and felt it didn’t really represent the efforts of smaller UK businesses in conducting R&D. They waved their magic wand and all of a sudden, the UK had spent an extra £15 billion on R&D in 2018 and up to £16.1 billion more in 2020. The ONS will use this model when they release their full BERD statistics for 2022 later this month.

Then in November, in the shadow of the disastrous 44 days of Liz Truss’s role as Prime Minister, and the prospect of new Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn Statement leading to spending cuts and tax rises, The Times newspaper have written a series of articles shining a light on some of the darker arts of the R&D industry. This has been followed by The House of Lords investigating R&D Tax Relief as part of their wider review of the Finance Bill 2022, where members of the scientific community, the accounting profession and the

R&D Tax Relief industry have been called to give evidence.

The problem is clear for all to see, but apparently not HMRC, over the last 5 years there has been a rise in the number of firms that see cold-calling and selling their 100 percent success rates and the notion of free money from HMRC to anyone who will listen. They are applying PPI techniques to the R&D Tax Relief Industry, throw enough brown stuff and some of it will stick!

The changes announced in the 2021 Autumn Statement are already baked into the R&D Tax Relief Scheme and will take effect for accounting periods starting on/after 1 April 2023.

Some of the changes already coming in may help on the fraud and pushing the boundaries: notifying HMRC of any external advisor; signing off the R&D Claim by a senior director; early notification of the intention to claim, which has to be within six months after the year end for a company that hasn’t claimed in the previous three years; all claims will have to be made digitally; the costs will have to be broken down; and an explanation of the R&D will be required

COODEN TAX CONSULTING coodentaxconsulting.co.uk

There are other changes coming in that will also affect the value of the claim for accounting periods starting after 1 April 2023:

Subcontractors – only UK based subcontractors will be eligible in claims, so if you are near-shoring or off-shoring your development at the moment, you can still do this, you just won’t be able to include the cost in your R&D claim. Would Re-shoring be a possibility? This is designed to boost the productivity of the UK and to build on the skills already in the country. There are some limited exceptions to this change;

Cloud Computing and Data costs – in an effort to keep the tax relief relevant these essential development costs for tech and bio pharma will be eligible; and

Pure Mathematics – has previously not been considered a science, but with the rise in algorithms, its now to be included.

Jeremy Hunt’s 2022 Autumn Statement has thrown in some significant additional changes, which clearly are hoped will go some way to reduce the effect of fraud and manipulation, but will have a significant effect on genuine claimants:

Whilst I fully expected the enhancement rate to be reduced to 100% which would have meant that a profitable company would obtain tax relief equivalent to 25% of eligible costs, and would have maintain the status quo with the current rate of relief equivalent to 24.7%, he went a step further and reduced it to 86%, which reduces the relief to 21.5% of eligible costs;

He has also greatly reduced the repayable tax credit from 14.5% to 10% this means with the reduction in the enhancement rate to 86%, a loss-making company which might previously have received a 33.35% tax relief, it has been reduced to 18.6%; and

It was also considered that he might merge the 2 schemes (SME and RDEC) into one – whilst he didn’t do this, he did greatly enhance the rate of RDEC to 20% from 13%, which equates to a tax saving of 15% of the eligible spend.

I’ll finish by giving you a bit more information about this year’s statistics!

Looking at the statistics in their entirety, the headline is that despite the estimated number of claims increasing to 89,300 from a final figure of 83,410 in the year to March 2020, the overall amount being claimed has in fact gone down in the year to March 2021 to an estimate of £6.6bn compared to £6.9bn for the previous year. The amount of money spent on performing R&D has also fallen to £38.1bn down from £42.8bn in 2020.

COVID is an obvious candidate for being the primary cause, firstly because a lot of businesses

stopped working or made significant changes to the way they operated in the first 3 months of the financial year. Secondly, the impact of the furlough scheme, if a worker was furloughed, they couldn’t undertake any work, if they couldn’t undertake any work, they couldn’t be performing R&D.

Diving into the numbers in more detail, the estimate for the number of SME claims is 78,825 with a near 50:50 split of reductions to corporation tax and repayable tax credits. The estimated number of RDEC Claims is 10,475 of which just under 4,000 were from large companies and the remainder from SMEs who were claiming for subcontracted or subsidised R&D, which they couldn’t claim for under the SME scheme. There was a 9% decrease in the number of large company claims, a 7% increase in the number of SME scheme claims and a 20% increase in the number of SMEs claims for RDEC.

Of the £6.6bn being claimed, £4.2bn was claimed through the SME scheme claim and £2.4bn claimed trough RDEC, just over £2bn was claimed by large companies and around £365m claimed by SMEs. The amount of qualifying expenditure of £38.1bn is actually lower than the expenditure in the previous two years.

The largest volume of claims continues to come from London and the South-East, which represents 31,790 claims or 35.6% of claims. London and the South-East also accounted for 49.7% of the value of all claims. The North West and the East of England had the next largest volume of claims, however these combined don’t even reach the number of claims filed from London.

The largest volume of claims came from the Manufacturing sector with 18,230 claims, they were closely followed by Information and Communication, which filed 17,310 claims and the Professional, Scientific and Technical sector with 15,880 claims, it was also this sector that also claimed the largest amount of the value of R&D claims with £1.63bn. In total these largest three sectors have claimed 67.3% of the £6.865 bn of tax relief and filed 61.4% of the claims. The next largest by volume of claims and value of claims was the Wholesale and Retail trade sector with 9,810 claims and £455m of value.

The average claim value for an SME under the SME scheme for the year to March 2021 was around £53,700, down from £56,400 in 2020, however perhaps a better estimation for a new claimant might be the median R&D claim for SMEs which stood at £20,850. The average RDEC claim by large companies was £500k down from £534,700 and the average RDEC claim by SMEs is £56,300, down from £66,500.

If you’d like to know whether you might be able to claim or need support to cope with the coming changes, why not book a no-obligation discovery call with me at calendly.com/cooden/discovery-gbj

COMPANY FLEETS RISK BEING LEFT BEHIND

Research shows that nearly 30% of businesses say that half or less of their company car fleets will be EV by 2027, putting them at risk of a difficult crossover to electric when the ban comes in.

This could leave them struggling with driver adoption and acceptance, adapting their existing policies to include EVs, and most significantly, workplace charging infrastructure and public charging strategies.

The fleet industry accounts for around 1.5 million cars and vans on the road at any one time. Moving to EVs is seen as a significant stepping stone for the government to achieve its target of 23m light-duty battery-powered vehicles by 2032.

The transport sector accounts for over 40% of the UK’s carbon emissions, and businesses can significantly reduce their scope 1 greenhouse gas emission with a comprehensive EV strategy.

Organisations that encourage EV adoption across their wider business (e.g., by offering a Salary Sacrifice scheme to their employees) and within their supply chain, can achieve emission reductions in Scope 3 as well. In 2021, fleet and business registrations accounted for more than half of new car orders, and the BRVLA has estimated that 10.5 million vehicles are part of the grey fleet.

“Organisations need to approach EV transition with a strategy and plan in place. And ensure all relevant stakeholders, not just Fleet Managers, understand and are committed to the transition. Undertaking a sudden switch can lead to problems with vehicle utilisation if the charging strategy isn’t thoroughly thought-out or issues with driver engagement and acceptance if they haven’t been suitably supported with a switch to EVs.”

“There are various reasons why businesses are hesitant to transition at pace now. Nineteen per cent said EVs are too expensive for them to acquire, and many flagged their uncertainty around the UK’s charging infrastructure.

“While transitioning company cars can be seen as the ‘easier’ part of the vehicle fleet to transition, organisations with mixed or significant commercial vehicle fleets need to start focusing their attention on transitioning their light-duty vehicles to electric as well. With a standard four-year/ 48-month replacement cycle, there are typically only two to three vehicle replacement cycles left before the 2030 ban comes into place. And with the ongoing issues with vehicle supply and lead times, this timeline is going to be further compounded for Fleets.”

“Utilising consultancy can help organisations with their roadmap for EV transition – including key considerations such as driver education and awareness, as well as charging strategies and maximising electric vehicle utilisation.

“With the 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel cars in sight, now is the time for businesses to start at pace the transition to electric to avoid being left behind.”

COMPANY FLEETS

Emma Loveday, of VWFS Fleet, says: “While it’s great to see that many organisations are making real progress with their EV transition, there’s a concerning number of businesses that are at risk of being left behind that need support.”

Almost a third of vehicle fleets are not on track to make the EV transition, as the 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans looms.

Organisations need to approach EV transition with a strategy and plan in place

RECYCLING WASTEWATER: IT’S TIME FOR FOOD AND DRINK SECTOR TO STEP UP

Engineering expert Ian Hart, of adi Projects, says the food and drink sector can make a real difference to contribute positively discusses the benefits of recycling wastewater.

Since the beginning of the last century, water use across the globe has increased exponentially, rising from around 500 billion m³ to over 4 trillion m³ in 2014, primarily as a result of the move towards more resource-intensive practices in many industries.

And if this figure isn’t concerning enough, the detrimental effects of droughts should give us an insight into why responsible water usage should be one of our priorities.

According to the UN, the world is heading towards a global water crisis, which will cause global water demand to exceed supply by 40% by 2030. With such an alarming estimate, identifying the main factors contributing to this fast-rising crisis should be paramount.

Can food manufacturers make a difference?

Ian Hart, Business Development Director of adi Projects, believes so.

He says, “Currently, the food manufacturing industry is responsible for over 70% of all freshwater use, meaning that implementing procedures dedicated to saving water would have an enormous impact on this figure.”

Reducing water stress is already a vital part of initiatives such as WRAP’s Courtauld Commitment 2030, which aims to provide the means for the food and drink sector to achieve global environmental goals with collaborative action.

IAN HART Business Development Director, adi Projects

Companies such as PepsiCo have been adopting water-saving and wastewater recycling processes for over a decade with astonishing results, cutting water usage by 26% while also saving $80 million in operational costs.

Meanwhile, food and drink production giant Nestlé has, in recent years, focused specifically on wastewater treatment, having built facilities to this end in all Central and West Africa Region factories and beyond.

As a result, the company reduced water consumption by 10% in its Tema factory in Ghana, and saves 16,500 tons of water a month (the equivalent of 500,000 litres a day) in its baby milk plant in Qingdao, China, with plans to continue to optimise water usage in more locations.

So, what exactly does wastewater recycling involve?

Wastewater recycling is the process of partial or total water reuse, essentially contributing to creating a circular economy - a substantial help in bringing us closer to meeting our environmental goals.

“Wastewater can be reused in a variety of ways, with a plethora of benefits. When businesses have the means to implement water recycling procedures, failing to grasp the opportunity is quite simply a waste of money as well as resources,” explains Ian.

Businesses operating in the food and drink industry produce a significant amount of liquid waste, which is referred to as trade effluent.

Due to the disastrous environmental impact that wastewater can have when not managed correctly, there are significant limitations on how companies can dispose of it, restricting the type and quantity of waste that can be deposited into sewers.

This, coupled with potentially costly financial charges should anything go wrong, should prompt manufacturers to find new ways to handle waste.

“The food and drink sector naturally needs vast quantities of water to run its operations, and while there’s little that can be done to reduce the required amount of water, manufacturers should aim to become more resilient. Wastewater recycling has the ability to make a considerable difference.

“While potentially being a costly investment for businesses in the beginning stages, water treatment equipment and facilities ultimately provide great return on investment, as proved by companies such as PepsiCo,” comments Ian.

Given its potential to provide substantial savings

and help meet global environmental goals, why is wastewater recycling not yet a widespread procedure in the food and drink industry?

The problem with wastewater recycling

While the UK is well-known for its treatment and recycling of wastewater, adopting these processes on an individual scale presents different challenges, one of which is the negative public perception of wastewater recycling in food manufacturing.

“Aside from lack of availability of equipment and steep prices discouraging business owners, there’s a general reluctancy to implement these processes due to potential reputational damage in countries such as the UK,” says Ian.

Contamination concerns are at the forefront of consumers’ and manufacturers’ minds, and while treating water that is subsequently going to come into contact with food directly is more problematic, wastewater can be utilised for a variety of other purposes, too.

“Wastewater can be reused in factories for specific indoor uses such as toilet flushing, cleaning of equipment and many industrial processes that don’t require complicated processes of decontamination,” adds Ian.

Though it might not yet be possible for wastewater recycling to be implemented as part of standard procedures, there are numerous ways businesses can optimise their water usage and play a role in achieving environmental goals.

adi Projects is a division of UK engineering firm. adi Group.

Given its potential to provide substantial savings and help meet global environmental goals, why is wastewater recycling not yet a widespread procedure in the food and drink industry?

ECOPLANTS TO TACKLE PLASTIC WASTE CRISIS

The partnership, between Clean Planet Energy and private equity firm Crossroads Real Estate, has already agreed funding for the flagship ecoPlant currently under construction in Teesside.

Potential sites have also been identified in Lincolnshire, Gloucestershire, Lancashire and South Wales, with further locations to be announced in the coming months.

Clean Planet Energy’s ecoPlant is a green, advanced recycling facility intended to process non-recyclable and hard-to-recycle waste plastics that would otherwise be sent to landfill. It is designed to accept 20,000 tonnes of plastics each year, converting the waste into ultra-low sulphur fuels to replace fossil fuels in the transport and heavy-machinery sectors, and petrochemical feedstocks, including naphtha, which can be used to make new plastic products without the need to use fossil-based feedstocks.

The company’s ultra-low-sulphur diesel can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 75% compared to the use of traditional diesel, while the joint venture could also lead to over 200,000 tonnes of hard-torecycle waste plastics being repurposed for use in the circular supply chain each year.

The UK still generates over 2m tonnes of plastic waste each year, with well over 60% not suitable for recycling, and a recent government report identified advanced recycling as a key policy recommendation.

By developing new ecoPlants throughout the UK, Clean Planet Energy and Crossroads Real Estate plan to open a route for traditionally non-recyclable plastic waste to be repurposed into sustainable and circulareconomy product. The aim is to cut plastic pollution, reduce the amount of waste entering UK landfill, and lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Crossroads CEO David Gillerman explains, “The negative impact of plastic waste on our environment, plus the challenges we face from excess carbon emissions, made the joint venture with Clean Planet Energy a very compelling opportunity. With this investment, we have the ability to make a significant environmental and social impact across the UK.”

Bertie Stephens, Group CEO of Clean Planet Energy, adds, “Clean Planet Energy’s mission is to remove over 1m tonnes of non-recyclable plastic waste from our environment, every year. This exciting partnership gives us the capacity to make a significant dent in this target.”

Earlier this year, Clean Planet Energy announced a 10-year agreement with global energy company bp plc to offtake its circular products from its ecoPlants into the market. Each new facility will be able to process hard-to-recycle plastics in the UK. At their peak, the facilities should create over 750 direct new jobs, and potentially thousands of indirect jobs when the ecoPlants move from development into the construction and operation phases.

Two of the newly proposed ecoPlants.

CLEAN PLANET ENERGY

Ten new ecoPlants are planned across the UK, thanks to a joint venture which could see over £400m invested in the building of these advanced recycling facilities.

The UK still generates over 2m tonnes of plastic waste each year, with well over 60% not suitable for recycling.

If nothing changes, a quarter of all recycling could be contaminated by 2030, says David Heaton of Biffa.

Nearly one fifth (17%) of waste in England and Wales (from businesses and households) can’t be recycled due to contamination.

A recent WRAP survey shows that over four in five people recycle items they shouldn’t, a practice known ‘wish-cycling’ (or assuming an item can be recycled).

Biffa’s own analysis found that, in 2016, the average contamination rate of recycling waste was 13.4%, rising to 17% by the end of 2020 - more than 3% in as many years.

Understand on-pack recycling labels (OPRLs)

Disposal centres

Some recyclable items are unable to go in standard recycling bins – for example, electrical items. Manufacturers, producers or retailers will pay for electrical items to be recycled. These are usually broken down to separate the different materials they are made so they can be recycled individually. Waste electrical and electronic waste (WEEE), along with items like furniture and batteries, are however accepted at local recycling centres or by waste management providers. Ensuring recyclables are disposed into the correct waste streams stops contamination at the source, so explore alternative disposal methods for any uncommon recyclables.

BIFFA biffa.co.uk

All packaging contains an OPRL, explaining whether it can or cannot be recycled (along with guidance for doing so if necessary). Consumers and businesses should seek out guidance on what recycling symbols on packaging mean then share this. The current system of symbols is not perfect and can be difficult to understand, but Biffa is supportive of forthcoming legislation for a simpler system.

Get clued up on plastic

There are seven different types of plastic – ranging from PET (which is used in plastic drinks bottles) through to PVC (found in things like plastic food wrap) – but not all of them are recyclable. The types of plastic can be determined by their plastic resin code (a triangle on packaging with a number from one to seven inside). Generally, resin codes 1,2, 4 and 5 are recyclable, while 3, 6 and 7 are not – but it’s best to refer to the packaging’s OPRL for specific guidance.

Stop ‘wish-cycling’

As a society we are rightly more eco-conscious than ever, but ‘wish-cycling’ is a problem. It means that people are throwing waste into recycling bins without checking whether it can actually be recycled. This results in high levels of contamination where rogue items can potentially prevent a whole load of waste from being recycled. Rinsing recyclable waste (as indicated on OPRLs) will also help to ensure packaging can be recycled rather than being too contaminated to process.

Contamination leads to waste moving down the waste hierarchy (a framework for managing waste), where it’s less recyclable or recoverable. Greater education makes the entire process easier, reducing the chance of mistakes being made.

David Heaton, Business Director of MRFs and PRFs at Biffa, said: “Business leaders can play a crucial role here - educating their workforce through signage and engaging waste experts will drive a positive change, while helping them hit their sustainability targets.

“Should the alarming trajectory we’re seeing continue, contamination rates could reach nearly one quarter of all recycling by 2030 without legislative intervention.

EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility – making producers responsible for the cost of managing packaging waste) - and consistent kerbside collections are actions planned by the Government to be introduced from 2024. However, without these changes in legislation, recycling and contamination rates are unlikely to improve. All being well though, we could see a step up from businesses and consumers.”

See Biffa’s guides on the seven different types of plastic and Recycling symbols explained  for details.

As a society we are rightly more eco-conscious than ever, but ‘wish-cycling’ is a problem. It means that people are throwing waste into recycling bins without checking whether it can actually be recycled.

FIVE WAYS BUSINESSES CAN SUPPORT THEIR BOTTOM LINE AND SUSTAINABILITY GOALS

Edward Pigg, Managing Director of Axil Integrated Services, explores how businesses can support their bottom line and sustainability goals.

It’s no secret that the cost of living is having an unprecedented impact on business margins.

In fact, Barclays revealed recently that three quarters (75%) of small and medium businesses are worried about the impact of rising bills and inflation on their ability to do business.

Meanwhile, our research has found that sustainability remains high on the agenda, with 98% of businesses surveyed saying they are actively looking at ways to reduce their scope one, two and three emissions.

The challenge, then, is continuing to make progress on sustainability goals whilst still supporting your bottom line.

From realising the economic benefit of your own waste materials to the impact of even the smallest (and less glamorous) innovations such as continuous bin liners, there are several ways businesses can marry sustainability and efficiency.

So, what five key steps can businesses take to both support their bottom line and ensure they are maintaining momentum on crucial sustainability ambitions in such a turbulent economic period?

More than 222.2 million tonnes of UK waste is produced in just one year, and according to WRAP, 53% of UK plastic is not being recycled or recovered. The culture around waste is crucial within a business.

1. Audit your waste

Knowledge is power and gaining a greater understanding of your business waste streams can help reduce costs and increase recycling rates.

Working with experts to analyse your waste streams and understand how waste is collected and moved throughout your facilities is an important step to saving both time and money in the long-term.

Undertaking a waste review will help businesses identify opportunities to improve processes and drive out costs, as well as highlight any potential compliance issues which could prove costly if left unchecked.

2. Make the most of rebates

Consider whether there is any value in your waste. Recycling isn’t just a more palatable way of disposing of waste – your materials should be seen and treated as a vital and valuable resource.

Many businesses overlook the opportunities for their waste to support the circular economy through reuse and recycling, and don’t consider the financial rebates available to them.

In fact, research has revealed that less than half of UK companies receive rebates for their waste, and a quarter (25%) of those that do don’t think they are getting the best value for their materials.

Through rebates, organisations can reduce waste management costs by generating value through their recycled materials. Not only does this help businesses with their bottom line, but it also further incentivises companies to get a handle on their recycling. For example, Whirlpool recently saw a £200k increase in rebates generated through waste.

3. Embrace the 3 ‘Rs’

We’ve all heard of ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’, but when it comes to applying it to your business practices, there is always more that can be done. The 3 Rs

are there to help you understand where recovery methods can be built into your processes, making waste disposal a last resort.

More than 222.2 million tonnes of UK waste is produced in just one year, and according to WRAP, 53% of UK plastic is not being recycled or recovered. The culture around waste is crucial within a business. Encouraging employees to reduce consumption of single use plastics where possible and introducing products such as re-usable coffee cups and stainless-steel water bottles on sites has helped to remove 158,000 single-use coffee cups and 56,000 plastic bottles from Whirlpool’s canteens.

4. Focus on small innovations

Don’t overlook the smaller, less glamorous innovations!

Simple solutions, such as using continuous bin liners that take less time to fit, can really help with time efficiency, productivity, and waste reduction. Such innovations produce less plastic waste than a normal bin bag and have helped Whirlpool reduce plastic use by 80%.

Improved segregation of materials can also help you get the most out of your rebates, which can be supported by small steps like introducing colourcoded bins and additional signage.

Separating recyclables from general waste is the first key step before separating waste streams further to maximise value – copper and aluminium is worth far more than mixed steel. In fact, LEVC has seen a 212% increase in metal rebates through improved segregation.

5. Reduce transport costs

Reducing the transport movements of your waste simultaneously improves your carbon footprint and your bottom line. Using local services where possible can significantly reduce a company’s carbon footprint, fuel costs, and directly support the local economy.

For example, Birmingham Wholesale Market installed an on-site general waste compactor to reduce transport movements and costs – reducing the number of collections by 60%, whilst Birds Eye saved £24,000 in transport costs by introducing on-site baling equipment, for compressing a range of waste materials.

Raymond Brennan, Site Manager at Axil, meets with David Sherrington, UK & Ireland Energy, Environmental, Health & Safety Manager at Whirlpool.

ESTABLISHING THE FUTURE URBAN LANDSCAPE

The concept of a circular economy is not new – in fact, the linear economy characterised by taking, make and dispose of has only existed since the industrial revolution in any particularly meaningful way. In previous eras, very little was thrown away, as nearly everything had an alternative use at the end of its life, even if only for compost. Building materials are a case in point; many old buildings are constructed from stone from demolished buildings, and some old timbered properties are held up by old ships timbers.

So why don’t we still do this everywhere? The truth is that it’s far more convenient and sometimes cheaper to manufacture products from virgin material, and nearly always the quality is more consistent.

GreenBlue Urban has always been committed to the circular economy principle – and it is far wider than just product manufacture. A circular economy is a wide economic system that works to challenge global issues such as waste and pollution, but also climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution – both air and water. In setting such massive goals, the circular economy needs a huge shift in thinking, by all of us.

In addition to the issues that the circular economy seeks to tackle, as above, it is designed to benefit not only the environment but to bring prosperity to business and to society. It is regenerative by design, meaning that natural resources do not become so quickly depleted, and therefore new industries came to arise, bringing healthy economic growth.

Planting trees is a perfect example of a circular economy, as the tree provides multiple benefits during its life, and can be used to manufacture products when it is cut down. Removal of a plantation tree results in space left for new tree planting, bringing employment to often rural areas. But what about urban trees?

Urban trees also form part of a circular economy – but to maximise the benefits, these need to be properly planted, and grow to maturity. This is the raison d’être of GreenBlue Urban – assisting trees in their struggle to survive in a hostile environment. Whether it is providing soil support by using RootSpace soil cells, guiding tree roots with products from the ReRoot root management range, bringing air and water to the rooting zone with RootRain irrigation and aeration solutions or physically protecting the tree from above ground damage with tree grilles and guards.

The GreenBlue Urban innovative solutions enable trees to grow to their species potential longevity. All the below-ground products are manufactured from 100% recycled materials and are recyclable up to 5 times once they have finished their life. This is central to the GreenBlue Urban philosophy, as our vision is to bring environmental benefits to communities around the world, and the least possible carbon footprint.

With policy insisting that all developments of more than 150 residential units, buildings over 30m in height or commercial premises over 2500m2, a Circular Economy Statement must be submitted, along with a Whole Life Carbon Assessment as part of the planning process. This aims to reduce waste and pollution, and in time, will help achieve the net-zero carbon commitments. It is suggested that circular economy strategies could deliver emissions reductions that could limit the expected temperature rise by half – an incredible benefit.

Greenblue Urban is the global leading solutions provider in assisting trees in their battle to establish in urban spaces. Established in 1992 with more than 40 years’ experience in the landscaping industry GreenBlue provide exceptional expertise & Solutions in planning, design and the installation of green and blue infrastructure in the hard landscape.

USING THE SUN TO TURN SEAWATER INTO DRINKING WATER

Finding the most sustainable — and financially viable — means of reusing seawater has become an imperative. Dr Kapil Garg, Research Fellow in Heat Engineering, Cranfield University, investigates.

An infrastructure of desalination technologies will be essential for the wellbeing of populations, alongside economic prosperity, and in some cases, social and political stability.

The current output of desalination plants globally is more than 90 million cubic metres per day, and growing populations and their demands for higher

standards of living mean this figure will need to grow exponentially to meet needs - and wants. In the Middle East and North Africa, the gap between demand for water and actual supply is said to be around 42 cubic kilometres per year, according to the World Bank figures, and expected to increase by five times that by 2050.

KAPIL GARG

The race is on to find the most cost-effective, low-carbon desalination plant: urgently needed technology for ensuring drinking water supplies globally. Solar-powered desalination plants, the theory and practice, have been under development since the start of the 21st century. The challenge continues to be around gaining hard evidence of viability in terms of costs and scale.

Research has demonstrated that MED technology is a viable option involving low energy demand. The water production costs, though, are still relatively high. The integration of the MED with low temperature (60 °C–95 °C) solar collectors means a cost of between 2$/ m3 and 3.6$/m3; for medium temperature (165 °C–200 °C) it is 1.4$/m3–3.1$/m3; and high temperature (370 °C–530 °C): 1.8$/ m3−2.2$/m3. In general, that would mean a payback period in terms of investment into infrastructure of four to 16 years.

A new large-scale MED pilot is planned for the island of Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands located off the coast of Africa.

REWAISE (Resilient Water Innovation for Smart Economy) is an EU-funded project being run by Cranfield University alongside Solar Water plc. This involves a large-scale thermal desalination demonstrator.

projected daily production of fresh water from the dome is 216 m3 (only making a contribution to the island’s drinking water needs at this stage, but demonstrating the potential for scaling up and extending the number of domes). Compared with a more standard reverse osmosis process used for desalination, there is up to a 90% reduction in the production of carbon.

The new generation of solar desalination may be based on multi-effect distillation (MED) technology. In MED, feed water is evaporated in several stages under reduced temperature and pressure. In the first stage, seawater is heated and evaporated by the heat from the external source — in this case either solar, geothermal or waste heat from any industrial plants.

challenge with this — and all other forms of desalination technology — is finding the working balance between an effective lowcarbon process and one that is economically viable for industry and investors. One important way of improving viability is the deployment of renewable energy driven desalination systems at a faster pace.

For the remaining stages, feed water is evaporated by using the latent heat of freshwater vapours flowing from the previous stage. In this way, the latent energy of the vapours is used to evaporate the seawater, and freshwater condensation is collected from each stage. But in the last stage, vapours produced are condensed by the incoming seawater.

The proposed prototype is a 20-metre solar dome. A concentrated solar power field of parabolic trough collectors provides the thermal energy needed for the plant’s operations, around 4.6 MWth from the hot Canary sun. The power is integrated with an MED system which works at a relatively low temperature to avoid the potential risks of scaling and fouling in the works, as well as reducing overall energy consumption. The

In the case of solar-driven-MED units, energy to evaporate feedwater in the first stage is supplied by using a solar-thermal technology such as a parabolic trough collector or evacuated tube collector etc.

Reverse osmosis (RO) technology is more energyefficient and widely implemented than MED technology due to the low cost of water production, although carbon emissions are higher. Also, solardriven MED plants are important for those regions with severe water shortage but a higher incidence

DR

Research Fellow in Heat Engineering, Cranfield University

The

of solar energy. In the case of Gulf countries, where seawater can have harsh characteristics, such as high temperature, residuals of boron, high TDS and bromides, and severe fluctuations in seawater intake quality, the RO technology faces operational challenges. Also, with thermal storage technology becoming more mature, the challenge of operating solar-driven MED plants for 24 hours a day can be easily addressed.

The proposed prototype consists of a 20-metre solar dome (geodesic in design) integrated with 3 stages of the MED unit. Inside the dome, a large proportion of the feed water is aimed to be evaporated and the vapours act as the heat source for the feed water to be evaporated in the MED unit. A concentrated solar power field of parabolic trough collectors provides the thermal energy needed for the plant’s operations, around 4-5 MWth from the hot Canary sun. This thermal power is supplied to the feed water through a suitable heat exchanger placed in a trench under the dome and this desalination system works at a relatively low temperature (around 65-70oC) to avoid the potential risks of scaling and fouling in the works, as well as reducing overall energy consumption. The projected daily production of fresh water from this unit is approximately 200 m3 without storage. Compared with a

more standard reverse osmosis process used for desalination, there is up to a 90% reduction in the production of carbon.

The challenge with this — and all other forms of desalination technology — is finding the working balance between an effective low-carbon process and one that is economically viable for industry and investors. One important way of improving viability is the deployment of renewable energy driven desalination systems at a faster pace. For example, Morocco via NOORo project with CSP technology and DEWA is using PV technology at Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park. As the costs reduce, the pace of deployment will inevitably accelerate. Also, capturing and re-using the waste heat available from industries and power plants could be an alternative to respond towards the decarbonisation of this sector.

With an infrastructure of sustainable desalination technology in place, the global water supply system will have much improved resilience to extreme weather events and shocks. But major investment is needed: a will in the industry to support innovation.

More details at cranfield.ac.uk/themes/energyand-sustainability

A prototype 20-metre solar dome is proposed for Tenerife.

DO DAYLIGHT SAVINGS ACTUALLY SAVE ENERGY?

What is Daylight Savings?

Daylight Savings (DST) is a global practice of shifting clocks one hour forward in the springtime and then reverting them to standard time in the autumn.

The idea is to provide an extra hour of daylight in the evenings for two purposes: to get people to spend more time outside, and to reduce our energy consumption. In essence, if the sun is up for an extra hour in the day, that’s one more hour that we could spend outdoors – and away from our electrical devices. Also, it’s one less hour that we’ll need to use indoor lighting.

Who created the concept?

DST was originally thought up by Benjamin Franklin in 1784, when he proposed the idea of a seasonal time change. However, it was only during World War I that DST was practised on a national level. By 1966, the Uniform Time Act had taken effect to make this a standard practice globally.

Is it effective in saving energy?

The short answer: not really. A U.S Department of Transportation report showed that DST reduced electricity usage by 1%. A European study also found that lighting usage decreased a little but was outweighed by an increase in heating by 9%.

Similarly, a report published by the National Bureau of Economic Research showed that while lighting usage decreased, these numbers did not outweigh

the rise in demand for heating.

Ultimately, if DST does make a difference in our energy consumption, it’s only slight. And the little difference it makes isn’t enough to compensate for the rising demand for heating energy.

Other pros and cons

Turning our clocks back and forth has shown to have some very unexpected consequences. For instance, international data has shown that breakins drop by 7%, while activities like cycling and walking jump in popularity.

However, studies also show a rise in car accidents, injuries and suicides in the weeks after the time change, most likely as a result of sleep deprivation. Others have cited the repetitive switching in times to be socially and economically disruptive. This is especially because productivity rates are seen to drop during the transition phases.

The debate of whether or not the time change is worth it has been ongoing. A 2019  YouGov poll  showed that a slight majority of Brits were in favour of the practice, while 39% believed it should be scrapped.

Will Daylight Savings be scrapped?

In 2019, the EU held a vote to scrap the time change, after 84% of European citizens voted towards abolishing it. This would have meant switching to Daylight Savings Time permanently after the spring of 2021. However, the plan was put aside during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Likewise, the US congress voted earlier this year to abolish the time change as of March 2023. Thus, it’s seeming more and more likely that the practice will be scrapped in the next coming years.

Still, for the time being, we hope you enjoyed the extra hour of sleep on the weekend the clocks went back!

Research Source: switch-plan.co.uk

Productivity rates are seen to drop during the transition phases.

DAYLIGHT SAVINGS switch-plan.co.uk

COUNCIL’S TRAILBLAZING HYBRID SOLAR FARM UP AND RUNNING

GRIDSERVE has completed the handover of its third advanced hybrid solar + battery farm.

Hull is supplying the council’s net zero energy needs, making Warrington Council the first local authority in the UK to produce all of its own electricity.

Toddington Harper, GRIDSERVE CEO, said: “It is our collective responsibility to tackle the climate change emergency. Projects like Cirencester Hybrid Solar Farm require no government subsidy and deliver secure, affordable and plentiful energy. They demonstrate that the UK can meet its net zero obligations, and in partnership with Warrington Borough Council, enable us to deliver radical carbon reductions to move the needle on climate change in the fastest possible timeframes, and at the lowest cost.”

Warrington Borough Council spokesperson, Cllr Janet Henshaw, added: “Investing in subsidy-free developments has been a landmark achievement for the Council. Each project has proven to be a solid strategic decision to ensure the borough’s future energy security. We look forward to working with GRIDSERVE to ensure Cirencester Hybrid Solar Farm continues to generate optimal financial and environmental returns.”

The subsidy-free project, for Warrington Borough Council, spans over 88 acres, equivalent to more than 50 football pitches.

The 23 MWp Cirencester Hybrid Solar Farm is the first DC-coupled solar farm of this size in the UK and the most advanced to be completed in the country since GRIDSERVE’s York project in December 2019. It uses battery storage and technologies to maximise revenue and help balance the grid – during the day with direct solar generation and at night with energy stored in the 51 MWh battery.

Located in Witpit Lane, Cirencester, the 23 MWp solar farm includes more than 43,000 bifacial solar panels on trackers, co-located with 51 MWh of DC-coupled energy storage. It is considered to be one of the world’s most technically advanced solar farms, achieving a significant feat of design to avoid multiple conversion processes, increase efficiency, and help balance the grid. The site will produce enough energy to drive EVs over 88 million miles1 every year, equivalent to driving more than 100,000 electric cars from Land’s End to John o’ Groats.

Electricity from Cirencester Hybrid Solar Farm will help provide net zero energy for Warrington’s fleet of all-electric buses, coming into operation next year, while the York hybrid solar farm provides energy which can be sold into the grid. A third site in

GRIDSERVE has deployed a number of sophisticated technologies for Warrington., including bifacial solar panels, which generate electricity on both sides, and trackers which enable panels to follow the sun, maximise generation and stabilise output over the whole day. These enhancements increase solar generation by around 20% compared to comparable solar farms without these technologies.

Cirencester Hybrid Solar Farm joins two other hybrid solar + battery farms. The first, in York, includes a 35 MWp solar array and 30 MWh of battery storage. The other, in Hull, includes a 26 MWp solar array and 23 MWh of battery storage. GRIDSERVE will operate and maintain all three projects over their lifetimes to maximise system performance and value for the council.

A typical 1MWp UK solar farm will generate 1 million kWh’s of energy (=1GWh) every year, across 4 acres of land (2 football pitches). Therefore 1 acre of land can generate 250kWh of energy. A modern electric vehicle can drive 4 miles per kWh of energy, therefore 1 acre of land = 250kWh x 4 miles per kWh = 1 million miles. A football pitch is approximately 2 acres therefore from this area of land approximately 2 million miles of EV charging miles can be generated every year.

WASTE FIRM WINS £176K FUNDING TO ASSESS HYDROGEN FUEL SWITCH FOR MACHINERY

A UK waste specialist has been awarded £176,000 in funding to establish whether it can power its industrial machinery with hydrogen instead of diesel and electricity, says grant specialist Catax.

ASH Waste Services has won £175,844 from the Industrial Hydrogen Accelerator (IHA) programme, run by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and funded through the Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP).

The award will fund a six-month feasibility study into whether the company can power its industrial plant and equipment using low carbon hydrogen, potentially making it a pioneer of the kind of fuel switching that could help all UK industries transition to net zero.

ASH, whose HQ is in Wrexham, North Wales, will be aided by Compact Syngas Solutions ( CSS ) based in Deeside, Wales. The two companies are already collaborating on a wider project aimed at converting landfill waste into hydrogen fuel.

The aim is to switch a significant proportion of the ASH Group’s processing and transport equipment to hydrogen.

The IHA is a £26 million programme that funds

projects able to demonstrate end-to-end industrial fuel switching to hydrogen.

Neil Hassall, Managing Director at ASH Waste Services, said: “We are delighted to have been successful in obtaining government funding for our feasibility study into powering our machinery with hydrogen.

“Reducing our carbon footprint sits at the core of our business, and finding greener ways to operate our equipment will be an important leap forward. We hope our work will prove to be just the beginning of a UK-wide transition in how we power our machinery.”

Laura O’Neill, Catax Grants Manager, added:

“Moving away from diesel and electricity to power the UK’s industrial machinery is going to involve big technological advances, and ASH Waste Services is leading the charge.

“Hydrogen could have a large role to play in helping the UK hit net zero, and the country is well placed to become a global leader in this technology through investment in this important research.”

ASH WASTE SERVICES

FLYING ON SEWAGE

Global transport systems are under huge pressure to decarbonise - aviation in particular. So often the aviation sector is held up as the villain of the climate change story when in reality it makes up only around 2-3% of carbon emissions worldwide.

But the negative public perceptions remain, and the industry is one of those most determined to transform itself, for the sake of building longterm business sustainability and resilience. With the third largest aviation network in the world, the UK has a particular need to take action and demonstrate its commitment to change.

The industry and its stakeholders have come to a mutual agreement on carbon reduction that points only one way: low-carbon liquid fuels or Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs), as the short and medium-term answer to making substantial progress on cutting carbon emissions ahead of the 2050 targets for a net zero aviation sector.

Typically, SAFs emit 80% less carbon over their life cycle compared with conventional jet fuels. There’s no need for expensive investment in new aircraft or new infrastructure, SAFs are a a plug-and-play solution for the industry during a period when the radical new world of hydrogen and electric-based technologies, demanding vast investment, is worked out fully.

The only issue with SAFs, as tends to be the case with biofuels generally, is their availability on a large enough scale. They rely on mammoth — and ongoing — supplies of feedstocks. These are either in limited supply (like food waste) or come loaded with other environmental issues (the impact of bioenergy crops on land use, for example).

In this context, using human waste from sewage systems to produce SAFs would provide an ideal, circular solution. Sustainability for aviation. A way to limit feedstock costs. A means of limiting the need for human waste to be disposed of into

Can human waste provide a solution for sustainable aviation? Cranfield University - academic partner to industry lead Green Fuels Research and energy services company Petrofac -- has already proven the viability of this approach, as Dr Ying Jiang reports.

rivers and seas. An additional revenue stream for water companies. And a real opportunity for biofuels enterprises.

SAFs boom ahead

Last year saw the first commercial flight with a full load of passengers using 100% SAF for one of its two engines. Rolls-Royce has confirmed that all its engines will be SAF-ready by 2023. The US government has taken a lead on incentivising the use of SAFs through its Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) 2022 and has a goal of enabling the production of 3 billion gallons of SAF by 2030, with a trajectory of growing production facilities in order to deliver 35 billion gallons a year by 2050.

Current production rates of approved SAF technologies, however, only meet a small fraction (less than 1%) of the actual fuel demand from commercial airlines. One issue is the relatively low cost of fossil-based fuels for airlines. As an industry still recovering from the financial shocks of the Covid-19 pandemic, businesses are still looking for the lowest cost options and keep on seeing SAFs as a critical option, but an option for the future rather than now. Another is the strict quality standards needed from any alternative aviation fuels.

Feedstock dilemmas

Biofuels in general are in demand. The UK continues to be a net importer of biofuels, with most of its supply (traditionally at least) coming from Ukraine, China, the US and the EU. With government plans to increase the mandate for ‘biofuel blending’ in transport fuels to 14.6% by 2032, there is only going to be more competition over land use internationally: more land being turned over to bioenergy crops rather than food; weakening food security; damage to local economies; and higher prices for biofuels.

There are alternatives in the form of waste products which would provide more of a sustainable option. Food waste, the types collected through municipal collections from households, have potential as an ongoing supply. But this would need a strong intervention from local authorities across the country to ensure food waste was collected separately to deliver the kind of consistency and quality of waste that is needed for conversion into a biofuel.

The technology and processes for converting the world’s mass of waste plastics into SAFs are currently being trialled across several schemes. Virgin Atlantic has a deal with Norwegian

It is estimated that around 53 million tonnes of sewage sludge are produced every year.

chemicals firm Agilyx to turn plastic waste into a crude synthetic oil that will, in turn, be converted into a SAF in a US facility. In the UK, the Clean Planet Energy start-up has a production facility capable of converting 60 tonnes of plastic waste a day into SAFs that are expected to deliver a 75% reduction in carbon emissions. The bigger question here though is over the use of plastics for burning as fuel at all. It shouldn’t be regarded as a ‘sustainable’ process, not when it involves the use of a finite resource: hydrocarbons that have been created over millions of years are a critical element to the chemical engineering industries and in so many different polymers and plasticbased products and materials which are not reused or recycled but destroyed.

Flying on sewage

Using municipal sewage sludge to produce SAFs will be a genuinely sustainable foundation, addressing both waste management and lowcarbon energy demand. As a feedstock, the scale of supply more than works. It is estimated that around 53 million tonnes of sewage sludge are produced every year that require to be treated in the network of around 200 sludge treatment centres in the UK. The UK’s wastewater system is heavily over capacity, meaning storm events (or even, in some locations, just a light rain) regularly lead to raw sewage ending up in rivers and seas. According to Environment Agency figures, there has been a 37% increase year-on-year in incidents: meaning 9 million hours of sewage being pumped into rivers and seas since 2016. Finding alternative uses for sewage sludge will be a huge benefit to businesses, to the environment and society as a whole.

The FIREFLY project, funded by Department for Transport as part of its Green Fuels, Green Skies competition, has shown how this can work; proved that the quality of the resulting biofuel will meet strict industry standards; and led to the engineering design and construction of a demonstrator plant for production. With further industry investment, the project is due to lead to a first-of-a-kind commercial refinery and the development of a network of UK sites close to airports, pipeline terminals and wastewater treatment works. The integrated processes involved will also reduce the processing costs involved and help keep unit costs low. Alongside other development pathways, the FIREFLY technology is expected to become a strategic asset for the UK as part of the broader national SAF portfolio.

Costs for SAFs will remain relatively high, at least for the short-term. Which is why the huge potential for SAFs — and the opportunity for a circular economy approach to their production — will only be realised with a clear mandate from government, stimulating mass uptake of SAFs, more investment from finance institutions and a rolling cycle of lower costs for every stakeholder involved.

DR YING JIANG Senior Lecturer in Bioenergy, Centre for Renewable & Low Carbon Energy, Cranfield University cranfield.ac.uk

WATER CIRCULARITY: EXTENDING THE BENEFITS ABOVE AND BEYOND

Our precious water resources need to be protected and preserved right now, says Alain Dedieu, President Water Wastewater at Schneider Electric.

According to the United Nations, due to economic advancement, population growth, and consumption patterns, the world’s water use has increased sixfold over the past 100 years, expanding at a pace of 1% per year. Water supply is also impacted by climate change, but ironically, water production considerably increases carbon emissions.

The water and wastewater sector is essential to meeting the world’s rising water demands and to the achievement of the 2050 net zero journey. This is where circular economy principles become vital to achieving a sustainable water supply.

The concept of a circular economy is about closing the loops of the linear economy to optimise resources. The emergence of new water technology has brought about a new age where the performance of water services must be seen through the lens of sustainability and efficiency. These objectives can be understood through the paradigm of circularity, where Reduce, Reuse and Recycle become fundamental pillars of sustainable and efficient production.

Tightening the tap on saving energy

When energy is used inefficiently, the costs to the economy and the environment increase. The necessity for energy efficiency measures and selfgeneration of renewable energy are just two of the crucial steps that the water industry must take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as is stated in The World Bank’s 2021 study, “Water in Circular Economy and Resilience” (WICER).

With energy accounting for 33% to 82% of non-labour operating costs, it is frequently the most expensive part of water supply and sanitation operations. However, it is also one of the expenditures that can be most easily addressed through innovative efficiency measures, not least by introducing digital solutions that can optimise, manage and conserve energy. As DigitalEurope highlights, “Digital remains the single most important tool to deliver substantial environmental gains through increased efficiencies.”

Water companies increasingly turn to remote monitoring and real-time data analysis to aid energy optimisation and reduce consumption. Through enhanced analytics, powered by IoT sensors and the cloud, water companies can collect and read vast amounts of data in real-time. Such advanced data analytics and power monitoring systems can deliver energy savings of up to 8%.

Not only does this support the overall measurement of consumption, but it helps to forecast usage. This data can also feed into leak management systems to detect faults and proactively mitigate leaks, managing inspection and repair.

The WICER report is clear that digitisation underpins efficiency and sustainability in the water industry: “Digital solutions offer new ways to optimise, manage, and conserve water. Digital solutions also help extend and improve the quality of water resources, expand infrastructure life cycles, optimise operations and maintenance, increase energy efficiency, reduce NRW, and help prepare for a changing environment or potential crisis.”

Reducing energy consumption across the water cycle is essential. Whether tackling inefficient pumping systems or ensuring preventative maintenance, all efficiency measures require data to feed insight that spurs action. Without a full view of current inefficiencies, it is impossible to bring about impactful change. Therefore, efficiency and, in turn, sustainability now relies on data delivered through digital technologies. But it doesn’t end there.

The water and wastewater sector is essential to meeting the world’s rising water demands and to the achievement of the 2050 net zero journey.

A large-scale renewable energy source

Beyond boosting energy efficiency, circularity can help us create a greener future for water. Being circular means using the industry’s potential to produce renewable energy and run-on alternate energy sources produced during the hydrological cycle.

Utility companies that provide water and sanitation are increasingly looking for ways to become energy producers. With the right planning and investments, these utilities can achieve energy neutrality or even generate a surplus of energy to sell to the grid. This can look like microgrids at desalination or water treatment plants, to wastewater treatment plants utilising biogas, thermal energy via heat pumps or microturbines deployed in the water system to capture kinetic energy.

This approach has many benefits, including decreased emissions and improved stability. By producing their own energy, utilities can become less reliant on the grid and more resilient in the face of power outages. Alongside the implementation of digital tools, selfgenerated, renewable energy creates a winning cycle of efficiency and sustainability.

The sky isn’t the limit

For waste materials produced during industrial processes to become an asset rather than a harmful burden, circularity finds useful ways to harness them. Globally, the majority of water treatment sludge is discarded to water bodies, sewers, or landfills, which can create damage to ecosystems.

However, adopting a ‘zero-waste’ strategy means materials that may otherwise end up in landfill can be recovered from the sludge treatment and used in other industries such as construction or agriculture. Salt can be extracted from the brine at desalination plants and then used in other industries, such as the resource-heavy textile industry.

Such an approach is not without challenges but is vital to ensure that true efficiency and sustainability is achieved through the water cycle. Reducing energy use is imperative, but if other opportunities to engage in circularity are ignored, there is a risk of giving with one hand and taking with another.

A faultless circle

True circularity in the water sector provides environmental benefits, as well as social and economic ones. It’s a strategy that combines numerous chances to operate more effectively, sustainably, and cooperatively with other industries pursuing ambitious change.

Water should serve as a shining example of the circular economy. Water, which is a cyclical but limited resource that needs to be protected and preserved right now, supports every single part of our world. Adopting a circular economy for water allows us to maximise its worth, while also generating new value for businesses, communities, and the ecosystem.

ALAIN-DEDIEU

President Water Wastewater, Schneider Electric

LOOP DECARBONISATION TECH DEPLOYED IN UK FIRST

World-leading decarbonisation technology will be deployed in the UK for the first time as part of a collaboration between Cambridge-based climate tech company Levidian and solutions business Eco Group.

Group

This agreement marks multiple firsts. Eco Group’s deployment in the south of Scotland will be the first remote implementation of the pioneering LOOP technology in the UK. It is also a world-first deployment of a LOOP system with fully integrated hydrogen separation.

The LOOP device uses a patented low temperature, low pressure process to crack methane into its constituent atoms, hydrogen and carbon, without the need for catalysts or additives – decarbonising methane-rich gas to deliver hydrogen and graphene on site.

Following the initial deployment of the LOOP10 system at Eco’s HQ at Annan, Dumfries and Galloway, the firm has committed to working with clients and partners to deploy more than 60 larger LOOP1000 units across Scotland and beyond over the next five years. This will create decentralised hydrogen hubs to support industrial

decarbonisation, enabling reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and creating products essential to net zero ambitions. A single LOOP1000 reduces CO2 equivalent (CO2e) by approximately 2,400 tonnes per year.

The hydrogen produced by the first LOOP10 demonstration unit at Eco will be used for R&D projects for hydrogen technology innovation across all sectors.

Eco Group will also be a distributor of graphene, focusing on R&D applications for the use of graphene as an advanced additive in the aerospace, automotive, 3D printing, textiles, and energy sectors.

Business and community development agency, South of Scotland Enterprise (SOSE), has engaged with

EDDIE BLACK Managing Director, Eco

JOHN HARTLEY Chief Executive Officer, Levidian

DR MARTIN-VALENTI Director of Net Zero, SOSE

Eco Group for a considerable period, providing guidance and now a £331,000 grant to support their innovative project.

Dr Martin Valenti, Director of Net Zero at SOSE, said: “Climate change is at the forefront of all our minds, especially during COP27, which is why SOSE is driving and delivering a Just Transition to Net Zero in the south of Scotland.

“A key aim of our Net Zero work is engaging with businesses which are delivering innovative, world class solutions. Eco Group’s work with Levidian is a fantastic example of this.

“SOSE is supporting the creation and live testing of new technology with Eco Group, which focuses on taking natural gas and methane and breaking it down to provide hydrogen and graphene.

“This could then be used for low energy solutions to heat buildings and for battery storage, which would be a significant step forward on our collective journey to Net Zero.”

Eddie Black MD of Eco Group added: “Our partnership has the potential to transform our region and to lead in decarbonisation. This technology will not only create green jobs, it will also demonstrate to industry leaders the opportunities to decarbonise their organisations and sectors while leading the way on innovation, in addition to making positive impacts on net zero aspirations through carbon reduction, new technology deployment and more sustainable materials.

“Eco’s ambition is for Scotland to be positioned as a global leader for green technology innovation.”

Levidian CEO John Hartley said: ““LOOP will be a powerful tool for industrial decarbonisation and fits in well with Scotland’s green ambitions – we’re looking forward to working with Eco to deploy LOOPs and integrate graphene to help us drive towards net zero.”

About LOOP

LOOP devices are named for their approximate annual CO2e reduction potential. A LOOP50, for example, reduces CO2e by 50 tonnes per year. This amount of CO2e is doubled in applications where the input gas is from a waste source, such as on oil & gas well sites (a LOOP50 using waste gas would reduce CO2e by 100 tonnes per year). LOOPs can be deployed in standard shipping containers or into permanent infrastructure as single units or larger arrays. Levidian is currently scaling up LOOP technology to deploy LOOP1000+. Watch a video about LOOP here

LOOP levidian.com/loop

Our partnership has the potential to transform our region and lead in decarbonisation.

Attleborough is the first neighbourhood in the country to benefit from a waste to energy gas system.

It follows two years of extensive works at an anaerobic digestion (AD) plant in the East Anglian town.

“A new expansion to the plant will enable organic waste from local homes and businesses to be processed to produce gas, which will be used by the town,” explains Chris Winward, CEO at Privilege Finance, which developed, funded and managed the £17m upgrade project.

“What sets this project apart is that Attleborough residents will be able to trace the

source of their energy right back to the organic waste they have generated.

“It’s a great testimony to the people of Attleborough and will hopefully encourage other communities to follow suit,” he adds.

Plant development

Works began on the plant in August 2020 and is due to finish this winter. Once live, the plant will be run by expert AD plant operators, Eco Verde Energy (EVE).

“The upgrades will see the plant produce 1,000 cubic meters of green gas every hour which is enough to heat 4,000 Attleborough homes,” Chris added.

An AD plant is helping transform a Norfolk town into the UK’s first green gas community.

Four new digestion tanks, a waste reception hall, a depackaging unit and a gas upgrader are part of the plant’s new additions, with 100,000 tonnes of local organic waste forecast to be processed annually.

The plant will break down the local organic waste to produce biogas, which will be put through a gas upgrader to create biomethane. The biomethane -- a molecular replica of natural gas -- can be directly injected into the local gas grid to deliver a renewable source of energy to local residential homes and businesses.

The upgrade is very timely as England looks forward to mandatory food waste collections beginning in 2023. The facility will support the government’s targets for no more than 10% of municipal waste to be sent to landfill by 20351

Chris says that, according to WRAP, the UK produces up to 9.5 million tonnes of food waste every year2. When food waste is sent to landfill to

rot, it emits methane, a powerful gas which is 2834 times3 more damaging than CO2.

“Projects such as Attleborough are really important for helping to reduce the amount of waste which is being sent to landfill and supporting the UK’s net zero ambitions,” he adds.

The upgrades mean that residents can trace their gas back to a renewable energy source, fulfilling a circular economy.

Chris points out, “The waste being produced by the people of Attleborough is being used to generate the gas they are using to heat their homes –effectively using their waste to run their heating and appliances. It’s a true closed loop.

“The plant has the ability to meet 100% of the town’s gas demands during the summer months and at least 50% of the demand during the colder, winter months,” he says.

“Locals will also be able to rest assured that carbon emissions from waste transportation will be reduced, as all collections will be processed in-county, therefore reducing any unnecessary transportation miles and cutting greenhouse gas emissions,” he says.

Residents are assured they will see no difference to their appliances or homes during the switchover process.

“An exciting future lies ahead for Attleborough. It is leading the way in renewable energy by becoming the first green gas community in the UK,” Chris concludes.

CHRIS WINWARD CEO, Privilege Finance privilege.finance

Attleborough AD Plant

The upgrades will see the plant produce 1,000 cubic meters of green gas every hour which is enough to heat 4,000 Attleborough homes.

UK’S HYDROGEN POWERHOUSE LEADS THE WAY TO CLEAN GROWTH FOR PROCESS INDUSTRIES

The North East is the UK’s leading hydrogen hub, with two major blue hydrogen projects shortlisted for support from the government’s £1bn Infrastructure Fund.

The large-scale projects - both in Tees Valley - are Kellas Midstream’s H2NorthEast development and bp’s H2Teesside, part of The Northern Endurance Partnership’s East Coast Cluster.

They are included in Phase-2 of the Carbon Capture Usage and Storage Cluster (CCUS) Sequencing Process, announced by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy.

This means the North East now has considerably more hydrogen projects than anywhere else in the country. It’s the only cluster shortlisted for the two blue hydrogen projects, and is also home to the UK’s largest independently owned hydrogen production plant run by BOC, along with several ongoing green hydrogen projects.

Philip Aldridge, CEO of The North East of England Process Industry Cluster (NEPIC), praised the news, saying: “The BEIS Phase-2 announcement is excellent news for our region and really cements the North East as the hydrogen hub of the UK and a global ‘Super Place’ for hydrogen.”

“Almost half of the UK’s Carbon Capture Storage (CCS) projects are based in the North East, which demonstrates our commitment to lead on CCUS initiatives.

“Not only will this create thousands of jobs and attract investment across the local landscape, but it’s also a huge step in the future distribution of low-carbon power that will be essential to the long-term sustainability of many businesses throughout the area.”

CHRIS HOLT Clean Growth Manager, NEPIC nepic.co.uk

NEPIC recently hosted a Green Growth Conference about decarbonisation opportunities and challenges for local process industries. Chris Holt, clean growth manager, talks to Chemical Industry Journal about how ‘super hub’ status could shape the future for its 300-plus company member.

Tell us about NEPIC

The North East of England Process Industry Cluster is a cluster organisation that represents and supports the process industries in the North East. NEPIC does this by networking its members together to create meaningful partnerships that deliver growth. NEPIC also helps drive forward the transition to Net Zero by collaborating to produce regional decarbonisation roadmaps, facilitating knowledge transfer, and by launching technical projects to construct new sustainable supply chains on Teesside.

How / why has the North East become a global ‘super place’ for hydrogen?

Teesside is already the UK ‘super place’ for hydrogen with BOC producing over half of the UK’s total hydrogen. Currently, it is the only industrial cluster within the UK that has a hydrogen pipeline. Teesside is also a highly concentrated cluster, with the main industrial operations taking place within a five-mile radius. Due to the density of energyintensive industrial assets, existing supporting infrastructure, and a skilled industrial workforce, Teesside is an excellent place for large-scale industrial decarbonisation. This is especially true for blue hydrogen which is akin to outsourced carbon capture, which would likely have limited economic or environmental viability outside of an industrial cluster.

What does the East Coast Cluster represent?

The East Coast Cluster has the Northern Endurance Partnership at its core, which involves the sequestration, transport and storage of carbon dioxide produced by the Teesside and Humberside industrial clusters. Within this, it contains projects for carbon capture with low-carbon power production, blue hydrogen manufacturing and existing industrial assets.

How many blue / green hydrogen initiatives are currently underway in the region?

On Teesside, Kellas Midstream and bp’s blue hydrogen projects were shortlisted as part of the BEIS Phase-2 cluster sequencing process, twice as many as any other industrial cluster in the UK. BOC were also successful with their application to convert their existing grey hydrogen plant to produce blue hydrogen via the

East Coast Cluster. Teesside will also be a green hydrogen hub with companies such as bp, EDF Renewables UK and Protium all having projects to manufacture green hydrogen.

When will large-scale production start in any of the projects?

Many projects aim to decarbonise existing assets and operations, which will be done as soon as they can connect with the carbon capture infrastructure or access blue hydrogen. A good example of this is the BOC hydrogen plant that is already producing grey hydrogen and will switch to blue hydrogen once the plant is integrated with the carbon capture infrastructure.

When will production start, and how much power is likely to be generated?

Blue hydrogen production will start at the bp and Kellas Midstream sites in 2027, with the ambition for each site to scale to 1 GW at around 2030. The timelines for the green hydrogen sites differ and so do the final planned scales of operation.

For example, the Protium green hydrogen project aims to produce ~70 MW of green hydrogen by 2026, with the first phase of the project taking place in 2025. There is also more flexibility regarding scale, for example the bp HyGreen Teesside could scale to 500 MW in the future. Regarding CCS power projects, the Whitetail Clean Energy project will produce around 350 MW of power and the Net Zero Teesside Power project will produce up to 860 MW of power.

How many jobs could be created – are you confident that the skills are available?

Given the number of different projects it is difficult to accurately estimate the total number of jobs that could be created, the Net Zero Teesside project alone could create 5,500 direct jobs during construction. Sourcing the skilled workforce necessary to deliver large and transformative projects is always a challenge but Teesside is already very well placed in this area due to its already significant industrial operations. NEPIC have also been working to support the cluster to meet the challenge of skills, most recently via skills surveys to understand the training needs of industry.

How optimistic are you about the short / long-term prospects for the industry?

I’m very optimistic. Decarbonisation is a massive challenge for industry, but it has proven to be an opportunity to grow industrial operations and create jobs. A multitude of new manufacturing sites have been announced on Teesside over the past year or so including Tees Valley Lithium, Alfanar’s Lighthouse Green Fuels plant, Circular Fuels and Peak Resources. There are also many

more sites within the pipeline for Teesside. The need to decarbonise has also helped secure existing industrial assets; for instance, the opportunity to operate the world’s first decarbonised cracker is often cited as the reason that SABIC’s UK operations were secured.

What is the single biggest challenge?

It is an understatement to say that the road to Net Zero will be long, complex, and challenging.

It is essential that decarbonisation initiatives maintain strong support from key stakeholders and government to deliver Net Zero. Commercial viability is at the heart of this and utilising economics as a tool to drive forwards Net Zero is the single biggest challenge and opportunity. A decrease in government support for decarbonisation is a substantial risk that would severely reduce the ability of industry to meet this challenge.

What key messages came out of NEPIC’s recent Clean Growth Conference?

For me, the key message was the unprecedented demand to attend from delegates and exhibitors, which highlighted the level of interest there is to take advantage of decarbonisation as an opportunity to achieve Clean Growth. The level of discussion and engagement between talks also showed the interest and willingness to collaborate to achieve this.

Teesside is already the UK ‘super place’ for hydrogen with BOC producing over half of the UK’s total hydrogen.

Delegates at the recent Clean Growth Conference

MAKING SUSTAINABLE CHANGE; CAN BUSINESSES REALLY AFFORD NOT TO?

Dr. Paul Wright, Academician and Global Sustainable Development Programme Lead, at distance-learning HE provider, MLA College, explores how businesses are quick to cut staff training budgets in financially difficult times, but with the demands put on them to make sustainable change, can they really afford to do this?

Evenings are getting darker, leaves are on the ground, jumpers and coats are back to being a wardrobe necessity – winter is certainly on its way. With it comes a wave of uncertainty. Energy prices are at an all time high, interest rates are surging, the cost of living keeps increasing; people are worried and unsure how the winter is going to play out.

Businesses have the same fear, with many having struggled through the pandemic they now have the added pressure of affordability, whilst constantly being told they need to do more to address sustainability issues. It’s little wonder that sometimes things can get too much, budgets are stretched, and cuts need to be made.

In my experience, there are usually two areas where these cuts are made first; marketing and staff training – both of which make little business sense. Ok, I know when times are hard businesses need cashflow to survive, they need to pay their staff,

suppliers, business rates, things need paying right away, so areas in which tangible results are not immediate are deemed non-essential. But let’s take a look at the bigger picture here. On one hand businesses need to make money, on the other they need to save money. Marketing attracts custom by raising awareness of the business, product or service and therefore helps drive income into the business. It may not bring immediate results but marketing is certainly an investment when it comes to reaching more people.

Staff training and development is also a long-term investment, one that will help reduce business costs, improve efficiencies, and retain staff. Let’s take the big sustainability agenda as an example, businesses are aware that they need to do more to tackle sustainability, climate change and the impacts on the planet.

Changes need to be made, in some cases these changes are going to be big and could be very

costly. However, real change needs to start with awareness and educating others. Without having a focused sustainability officer, or team, businesses run the risk of making decisions that could have detrimental impacts. Not only to their bottom line but could delay the positive impact on the planet –time which we are told we do not have.

By investing in the right training, businesses could be identifying that they already have employees with a passion for sustainability that would jump at the chance of having an opportunity to really make a difference.

Being able to identify challenges, having the knowledge to implement actionable plans and

inspire others to embrace these changes is paramount. It will bridge the gap between ‘knowing’ and ‘doing’. Having leadership that fully understand the benefits and challenges of sustainable change within a business will help improve innovation, social responsibility, reputations and ultimately save money and boost your bottom line.

Running a successful business in this climate, excuse the pun, is very challenging indeed, and its through these challenges that people really standout, shine and build character. Having the right people supporting your vision is what can make a huge difference. Change really comes from within, so I challenge businesses to think again when they are considering cutting the staff training budgets and really invest in this area – who knows, the difference it could make to your business, and the planet, could be priceless!

MLA College is a global distance-learning provider delivering undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, part-time to working professionals. Their suite of sustainability programmes, awarded by the University of Plymouth, include; BSc (Hons) / MSc Global Sustainable Development and MSc Sustainability in Practice (Master’s by Research Project). With three start points per year in January, May and September, businesses and individuals no longer need to wait until September to enrol.

DR. PAUL WRIGHT

Academician and Global Sustainable Development Programme Lead

mla.ac.uk

Staff training and development is also a longterm investment, one that will help reduce business costs, improve efficiencies, and retain staff.

COP27 – COLLABORATION FOR CHANGE

COP26 was seen by many as our last chance to avoid irreparable climate damage, says Dr Renuka Thakore, lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire.

Our world leaders made promises, including the consensus agreement to knuckle down on climate targets to keep average global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees a year. This was thought to be crucial if the world was to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, but only around 30 countries remained on target.

A year later, with a global economic crisis looming, adding to soaring energy costs and political conflicts worldwide, 200 leaders gathered in Egypt for the COP27 climate summit. Key priorities from the discussions included funding for ‘loss and damage’ for countries worst affected by climate impacts and a renewed focus on cutting emissions.

Following the conference, there are still many things that world leaders need to prioritise if we are to tackle the climate crisis.

Why we should be prioritising life sciences

Living things must be at the centre of our decision-making when considering the planet –whether that’s plants, animals, or humans. The drive for sustainability must be underpinned by multiple disciplines within life sciences, from anthropology, ecology and zoology to neuroscience and microbiology.

We must study the interwoven links between the living and non-living world. Assessing nature’s cycles, such as food chains, water, and natural gas cycles, and how these depend on living ecosystems will help us to understand their impact on global warming and their role in limiting it to 1.5 degrees.

Increasing global warming and degrading environmental capital will impact the health of living things. To move forward sustainably, the life sciences sector must work with health science to focus on the discovery, treatment and preservation of animals and humans in association with managing the planet’s health.

Collaboration is key

Climate conversations should consider the security of basic human needs such as food, water, and land. We must think in the long term. This means replenishing the soil, preventing failing crops, and growing resilient climate crops that withstand changing conditions. Reversing soil degradation is a global concern, as soil health is a universal asset for every living thing. The way forward is to scale regenerative agriculture to create positive outcomes for farmers, nature, and the climate.

Large-scale action to protect our collective future will require community engagement

and international measuring and monitoring. Speaking to those who know the local land must be included in development programmes. Engaging all stakeholders in decision-making for the public good is necessary to lessen climate inequalities. For example, climate hotspots such as the Maldives or areas of food insecurity in Africa are suffering some of the worst effects of climate change. We must accelerate action in these areas.

As we have seen in COP27 and previous climate summits, managing climate change is not the responsibility of one individual or country. We need systematic change in all societal systems, across every

industry and process. Everyone must be educated on how their own actions impact climate change.

Embracing technology

One idea for creating wide-spread awareness and accountability to drive change is to create an open-source database to give everyone access to important information about solving the climate crisis.

Technologies such as the Global System Integrator (GSI) are helping researchers collaborate to collect environmental data. Scientists will need advanced skills to analyse and translate the research findings into policies that global leaders can take into action.

What comes next?

World leaders, individual governments, and local communities across the world must engage with each other to co-create solutions for long term and sustainable change. The race to Net Zero, while a daunting challenge, also poses an opportunity. It is a chance for the world to work collaboratively towards a common goal for the betterment of everyone.

If countries can work together, and stick to the agreements and made at COP27, there is still hope that we can avoid the worst impacts of climate change and create a sustainable future.

About the author

Renuka is the Founder of Global Sustainable Futures: Progress through Partnership Network and has been recognised with the Development Leadership: Governor Enrique Tomás Cresto Award 2022, and Global SDG’s Women Ambassador Award 2022.

DR RENUKA THAKORE Lecturer, University of Central Lancashire

uclan.ac.uk

World leaders, individual governments, and local communities across the world must engage with each other to co-create solutions for long term and sustainable change. The race to Net Zero, while a daunting challenge, also poses an opportunity. It is a chance for the world to work collaboratively towards a common goal for the betterment of everyone.

MINDFUL CHEF LAUNCHES ITS FIRST REGENERATIVE FARMING PROGRAM

Healthy recipe box brand Mindful Chef has launched a regenerative farming program in partnership with its suppliers.

The initiative aims to draw down carbon emissions, help restore nature, and have a positive impact on the environment.

Food production is one of the largest contributors to global carbon emissions and a leading cause of biodiversity loss, Mindful Chef (ranked in the top 3% of Food and Beverage B Corporations in the world) wanted to find a way to support its suppliers to reduce their impact on the environment.

The first supplier to benefit from the program is Stourgarden. Founded in 1968, the Suffolkbased family-run farm has been growing onions for over three generations. It’s a longstanding supplier to Mindful Chef, with onions featured in over a million Mindful Chef boxes to date.

MINDFUL CHEF mindfulchef.com

As a result, the company -- with guidance from regenerative farming experts Soil Heroes -- is investing in its supply chain to support its farmers with peer-2-peer training sessions and financial support.

The aim is to adopt regenerative farm management techniques, reduce the C02 of crops, store carbon in the soil, enhance biodiversity and in turn, get Mindful Chef one step closer to its net zero target by 2030.

At its core, regenerative farming is about restoring soil health, putting back more into the land than is taken out, and farming in tune with nature rather than against it. The launch also supports Mindful Chef’s mission to make healthy eating easy as the farming methods help produce nutrient-dense crops and quality produce.

Co-founder Myles Hopper said: “This is just the start of the journey. Over time we hope to work with more suppliers on projects like these. We believe in making healthy eating easy and that starts from the ground up. Healthy soil means healthy crops and in turn, healthy food.

“By actively investing in our own supply chain and supporting suppliers like Stourgarden on their regenerative journey, we can enable people to eat more sustainably, while driving down agricultural emissions significantly. When we do that, we not only produce healthier crops, we also restore natural habitats, enhance biodiversity and draw down carbon from the atmosphere, storing it in the soil and keeping it there.”

Ed Pissarro, of Stourgarden, added: “I’m really excited about this partnership with Mindful Chef and Soil Heroes. My intention is to improve the quality of the final product and while doing that I want to protect the future of our soils and wider environment.”

This is just the start of the journey. Over time we hope to work with more suppliers on projects like these. We believe in making healthy eating easy and that starts from the ground up. Healthy soil means healthy crops and in turn, healthy food.

From left, Mindful Chef co-founder Myles Hopper, Ben Fogle and Mindful Chef co-founder Giles Humphries.

GOVERNMENT

‘DERELICTION OF DUTY’ OVER MISSED AIR QUALITY TARGET DEADLINE

As green organisations band together to criticise the Government’s failure to meet its own legal deadline for setting new air quality targets, UK100 adds its voice to the chorus of condemnation.

UK100 is the UK’s only local authority network dedicated to Net Zero & Clean Air action.

UK100 Chief Executive, Polly Billington, says, “The Government’s decision to ignore the legallybinding deadline to set new targets to reduce our exposure to deadly air pollution is a dereliction of duty.

“We welcomed The Environment Bill as a sign of hope that the Government was taking the air quality crisis seriously. The new Defra Secretary must act quickly — and decisively — to restore that trust.

“The plan, proposed in March, to meet World Health Organisation (WHO) limits on the deadliest pollutants by 2040 was already lacking ambition.

And, in June, cross-party local and regional leaders from the UK100 network pledged to meet the WHO

target in their regions by 2030. They called on the Government to, at least, match their ambition.”

The joint letter from cross-party mayors and local leaders was sent on Clean Air Day, which coincided with a report from the National Audit Office that exposed the Government’s air failings.

The letter to the Environment Secretary was coordinated by UK100 and signed by more than 20 mayors and leaders, including Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, UK100 Co-presidents Tracy Brabin and Richard Clewer, and Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Green leaders from across the country.

The letter urges the Defra Secretary to: Bring forward the UK’s air quality target to 2030 in line with the WHO’s interim guideline and

provide local leaders with the powers and funding to meet this target.

Put in place a longer-term target to meet the WHO’s updated guidelines — half of the interim limit.

Establish a national public awareness campaign around the health impacts of air pollution and its causes, including domestic wood burning.

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said, “We’ve done the research, we’re taking the world-leading action, we know that here in London we can achieve the Government’s target for PM2.5 a decade earlier than they are proposing by introducing measures proven to be effective. There is no reason for national government not to match the scale of our ambition for the health of Londoners.”

Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire and UK100 Co-president, added, “Within West Yorkshire, we’re doing everything in our power to clean up the air –including investing in electric buses, electric vehicle charging points and helping people to walk and cycle more. But one in 20 deaths in our region is linked to poor air quality and that is why it’s crucial that we meet the WHO’s target for PM₂.₅ by 2030.”

Richard Clewer, Leader of Wiltshire Council and UK100 Co-president, said: “It isn’t just our big cities that have air quality problems. There are parts of Wiltshire which are impacted, for example,

Westbury where lorries constantly run on the A350 directly outside of people’s front doors.”

“Councils have some ability to influence pollution, but we need more support from government legislation to reduce all forms of particulate pollution. Some of our problems are on the A36, a road managed by National Highways, which also means that government assistance is critical to tackling those issues. If we are to properly act as good stewards of the environment, we need to look to reduce pollution wherever we can.”

Polly added, “I urge the Environment Secretary to listen to the plea from local and regional leaders across the country who are desperate to clean up the air in their towns and cities. They can’t do it alone.”

“The Government needs to urgently step up its action on clean air and bring forward its goal to meet WHO guidelines. At the same time, ministers need to enable local leaders to meet their air quality ambitions by providing the powers and support they need to implement regional air pollution plans that mean residents can breathe easily.”

UK100’s CANZ report was recently cited by the Public Accounts Committee Tackling local air quality breaches report calling on the Government to take a more integrated approach to air quality action.

UK100 uk100.org

DRPG drpgroup.com syntiroassociates.com

HELPING CREATIVES

‘WALK THE WALK’

Wilson, CEO of Syntiro Associates, and Dale Parmenter, CEO of DRPG, discuss sustainability in the creative industry.

Where did your passion for sustainability stem from, and why such a focus on the events, creative and advertising industries?

Sam: “I’ve always had ties to the creative industries, and behind the scenes I was building a background in environmental management, social biology, psychology, research methods and statistics. At first, I had no idea what to do with those credentials but what really interested me is what happens between the facts, the raw data, and what people see, think and do in response.

“Something happens in between the science and people’s behaviour, so it really excites me to be in the middle of all of that, which is creative communications. The scientists have their job. They tell us the scientific facts about global heating and related implications, timelines, and targets. But it’s up to the creative communicators to amplify the behavioural and attitudinal change that is essential if we are to meet them.”

How did DRPG’s partnership with Sam begin?

Dale: “I saw Sam take part in the ‘Green’ panel at an ‘Events 100’ awards in 2007. The discussion was on sustainability, which 15 years ago was pretty new in our industry.

“Sam was so passionate about the moves we needed to make, and I was captivated. She said

one thing I’ll never forget: ‘If we don’t act now, when it comes to the tendering process, you will be excluded in the future’. It’s taken a few years to happen, but it’s a reality today.

“Afterwards I invited her to speak to our team, and it went from there. I wasn’t quite sure what we were going to achieve, but I’ve always been passionate about business being part of the community. We had always supported our local community, but there was a lot more to do.

“We had no agenda, so it was just an exploratory few weeks and Sam convinced me that we should weave sustainability into everything through ‘systems thinking’ and gain certification to BS 8901 (British standard for event sustainability management) and ISO 14001 (international standard for environmental management). We were the first PR agency to achieve the BS 8901, and then went on to be the first to achieve ISO 20121 (international standard for event sustainability).”

Sam: “What I have seen repeatedly is that companies either have all strategy and no tactics, all tactics and no strategy, or they have both but there is a disconnect between them.

What have been your biggest challenges working in the creative sectors?

Sam

What I have seen repeatedly is that companies either have all strategy and no tactics, all tactics and no strategy, or they have both but there is a disconnect between them.

This is where a system works, because it ensures everything is working together to take you to where you want to be… your vision: from strategy and governance to policy and operational controls, to data analysis and continual improvement.

“We take organisations on a journey from risk management (how we ensure we meet all compliance obligations), to operational objectives (how we reduce our activity-related impacts), to being purpose-driven (how we amplify the potential for positive change through our client relationships and the creative experience).

“DRPG’s recent focus on B Corp certification means it is actively working towards purpose-driven objectives. Our new app actually measures the ‘potential for positive change’ across environmental as well as social dimensions. This will be an integral part of the score given to clients.

“Also, by incorporating systems thinking with B Corp purpose-driven criteria, you are building on strong foundations. This enables a brand to deliver on its sustainability promises and communicate these authentically. Without this, there is a huge risk of reputational damage, particularly given the recent publication of the Green Claims Code. The gap between promise and delivery (what audiences see, experience, and feel) is where a brand lives or dies! I am not sure people see sustainability in this light just yet.”

Dale: “The first challenge for DRPG was to get the team onboard because we had countless books of policies (not great looking back!), and I think we overcomplicated it. The team didn’t get it and they thought we were solely trying to save the planet.

“We changed the narrative and began making tiny little changes that build up to a big thing, starting by individual objectives for every department to see what would make a difference. I’ll never forget the print team rolling the vinyl back slightly, so it saved 29cm every time they did a print run, which of course saved hundreds of metres by the end of the year. That’s when the team got it. We simplified all their systems and made it practical.

“My concern from the beginning was that this was nothing more than a tick-box exercise and we wanted to create tangible, real actions and changes. That’s got to be done with small actions - small things that will make a difference. We’ve adopted that all the way through and we carry on with that now.

“Syntiro has developed a performance tool that we are helping to code into an app for project teams.

This app is different from a carbon calculator because it focuses on tactical carbon reduction plans as part of a wider sustainability lens that includes biodiversity controls, access and inclusivity, and the ‘potential for positive change’ metric. We can also adapt it to ensure we are delivering upon our own ESG strategy plus any specific client requirements, meaning that it becomes part of the client ROI in a way that is evidenced and therefore defendable.

“We are not saying that carbon is not importantbut it is only part of the picture. There is also a risk that people can get stuck in ‘carbon tunnel vision’ and focus on granular data collation and offsetting rather than actions to reduce identified carbon hotspots. Offsetting, at best, is a distraction, and at worst, can be damaging to the environment. We are very clear that we are all about action - not offsetting!”

What are businesses’ biggest misconception about sustainability and ESG strategies?

Sam: The separation of approaches either in terms of trying to separate the three dimensions of people, profit, planet or sitting solely within risk management, operational or purpose-driven categories. The fact is that everything is connected and understanding the nature of these connections is where meaningful change happens.

“There is a huge misconception about ISOs (international standards) and the value of ‘systems thinking’. Done well, this ensures sustainability is integrated into the heart of a business model and acts as a vital business enabler. The certification is merely an output of this. Most companies just don’t think about it in terms of business modelling like DRPG does.

“The other thing, specifically for agencies, is how to think what a responsible client looks like. This is the elephant in the room, as we could be promoting services or products that cause more harm.

”We have developed a ‘Responsible Client Decision Tree’ that lists potentially high-risk industries and encourages companies to consider the associated risks and opportunities of working with clients who operate within these. There are many variables that need to be weighed up so it is far more complex than ‘we just can’t work with them.’

“For example, do they have an audited ESG report or verified net zero target, are you being asked to promote alternative sustainable solutions and do

We don’t live in an inert system, & everything is connected. So, the more positive action we take, the more that’s going to amplify these positive feedback effects.

these comply with the Green Claims Code. Do you have any control over decisions, what do your staff think? Of course, if you do decide the opportunities outweigh the risks, you also need to ensure you have the mechanism in place to deliver upon the opportunities, like the app we are developing.”

What’s your advice for businesses starting their sustainability journey?

Dale: Don’t be afraid of it. You will not get everything right because we still don’t get things right. You will mess up but have a go and involve your team. That’s the big one. Don’t sit this in a little department on its own; while you might need somebody to measure and lead, all the team need to own it and be part of it. Research shows that will make for a better workplace and will help to build you a purpose that people can relate to.

As far as Syntiro is concerned, what does the future look like?

Sam: “I’m fiercely optimistic. We don’t live in an inert system, and everything is connected. So, the more positive action we take, the more that’s going to amplify these positive feedback effects. But we must make sure we are measuring what matters so we can make meaningful change through our actions.

“I agree with making sure that the team are onboard to take action, but businesses also need to accurately assess their company-wide hotspots and develop meaningful KPIs that include, but are not limited to, kg of carbon and the collation of granular data that is often unreliable and difficult to get. Otherwise, my fear

is we’re just going to be measuring our poor behaviour better, and we don’t have time to do that. We’ve got to have an accelerated transition, creative communicators and brave courageous daring leaders to achieve this.”

Dale: “Right now, I’m concerned the acceleration in sustainability may start to stall in the current situation. If we go into recession, the priority shifts to profit over people and planet, and businesses feel forced into it because they think they can’t afford it. Another misconception is that being sustainable means spending more money, which of course it doesn’t have to, it can actually save money. It can be much more effective. We must watch our momentum and deceleration here.”

What’s next for DRPG’s sustainability goals?

Dale: “There’s no destination. It’s a continual journey that keeps going on to another level. We’re proud to have been recognised for our efforts, specifically this year with The Queen’s Award in Sustainable Development, as it keeps that momentum going for us as a team.

“It would be great to get B-Corp for 2023, but you don’t say: ’Right, we’ve done that. Now what do we do?’ It just keeps rolling forward and there’s always going to be another challenge because nobody can stand up and say they’ve completed it.

“No organisation on the planet can absolutely say we’re 100% there and there’s a beauty in that. The journey will lead us to a more sustainable future with innovations and creativity along the way.”

Sam Wilson, of Syntiro Associates, and Dale Parmenter, of DRGP, are trailblazers in sustainability in the creative industries.

DRPG drpgroup.com syntiroassociates.com

NEW LEADERSHIP MODEL

CEMS, a global alliance of business schools, multinationals and non-profits, says that leaders need to adopt a corporate culture of ‘collective’ responsibility instead, empowering employees to make decisions with a generational outlook if real change is to take place.

Its new report – Leading for the Future of Our Planet - is based on a survey of 4,206 professionals across 75 countries. It reveals that 43% of those questioned believe the environment is the single greatest concern facing business leaders, overtaking technological advancement (26%).

Both issues were considered more urgent to global business than shifts in world economic and political power centres (14%), political instability (6%) and global pandemics (3%).

alliances across government, businesses and civil societies to effect lasting change.

A deep knowledge of ESG issues must be woven into business education, throughout the entire curriculum, not just specialist modules. This must include partnerships with market practitioners to create platforms for students to practise theory.

Early career professionals must leave business school with sustainability skills and competencies in their ‘toolbox’ as well as a deep knowledge of the subject. They must believe that they can make a difference, challenge the status quo and see themselves as agents of change.

Nicole de Fontaines, Executive Director of CEMS, said: “We hope that this report will add some rich insights from across our community into how business leaders, educators and professionals can truly make a difference when it comes to tackling the environmental emergency.

“For too long we have treated planet Earth as an infinite resource to plunder. In very recent years, however, humanity seems to finally understand that we are headed for environmental catastrophe if urgent action isn’t taken.

“The business world must play a critical role in leading the charge because it has the capacity, capability, and resource to drive positive change. The challenge is how to develop – at all levels – bold, exceptional leaders with the awareness and skills to deploy world-saving solutions.

Survey findings include:

Averting environmental catastrophe will require a completely new set of business beliefs, behaviours, objective setting, and modelling which assigns value to sustainability and a cost to inaction.

Leaders must move from short-term, finite thinking focused solely on profit, to a balance with longer-term thinking focused on outcomes for future generations.

This will require leaders at all levels who can speak up, lean into the unknown, challenge the status quo and not be afraid.

Business leaders will need to engage their external stakeholder ecosystems to drive transformation. They need to understand their organization’s place in the societies within which they operate and build

“As set out in this report – with the urgency to tackle environmental challenges must come a comprehensive sea change in mindset, priorities and behaviours within companies. Difficult, longterm decisions must be made, with an unwavering commitment from organisations, and their leaders, to deliver on them – regardless of how difficult or unpopular they may be.

“As an organisation, teaching future global business leaders to integrate sustainability into business decisions has always been central to the CEMS’ mission. From the implementation of our model UNFCCC conference more than 10 years ago to our recent collaboration with the Estoril Conferences ‘A Future of Hope’ we continue to evolve our thinking and practice.”

Full details of the project, including a copy of the report, are available here

Reliance on a wise ‘guru’ leader or ‘hero CEO’ endangers progress in tackling the environmental crisis by shifting responsibility, according to a new report from CEMS.

NEEDED TO AVOID ‘CATASTROPHE’

Leaders must move from short-term, finite thinking focused solely on profit, to a balance with longer-term thinking focused on outcomes for future generations.

FAST-CHARGING NETWORK KEY TO SCOTTISH EV TAKE-UP

An efficient, reliable and sustainable fast charging network across Scotland is imperative if the country is to convince more drivers to make the transition to electric vehicles, says Electric Vehicle Association Scotland.

IAN JOHNSTON CEO, Osprey Charging

Scotland now benefits from the most public EV charging points outside London and the most rapid charge points per capita anywhere in the UK.

Private and public partnerships are essential to deliver the network of tomorrow, says the Scottish Government.

In its ‘Vision for Scotland’s Public EV Charging Network’, Michael Mathieson, Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport said: “Tomorrow’s public electric vehicle charging network will be very different to the one of today. Enabling drivers to conveniently and simply charge their vehicles with confidence, at the right place and time, whether at home, work or in public will be crucial.”

By 2030, it’s predicted there will be up to one million electric vehicles on Scotland’s roads, and the public electric vehicle charging network needs to continue growing to meet demand and ensure climate change obligations and targets are met.

Scotland’s Transport Minister Jenny Gilruth, opening the largest Fastned station in Hamilton, Lanarkshire, said: “Public and private sector partnerships are key in attracting investment and scaling up provision.

“Scotland is very much at the forefront of the electric vehicle revolution and we are seeing

NEIL SWANSON Director, EVA Scotland

impressive growth in uptake. We want to ensure that the public electric vehicle charging network keeps up with demand to meet the needs of people and businesses across the whole of Scotland.”

She stressed that companies like Fastned – which has eight rapid charge hubs in Scotland - would play an increasingly important role in delivering Scotland’s Net Zero ambition.

The majority of local authorities north of the border have now made electric vehicles their ‘go to’ solution and focused on providing charging infrastructure to meet future demand, with a Fastned spokesman confirming that Scotland was a “key strategic location”.

He said: “We’re preparing to construct a new site in the coming few months and while developing a pipeline of location opportunities as far north as Inverness, bringing the EV revolution to every corner of the UK.”

DoT figures show that by population, Scotland benefits from the most public electric vehicle charging points outside London, and the most rapid charge points anywhere in the UK with 55 per 100,000 of population.

Currently, there are over 3,500 across Scotland - not including private sector charge points in business premises, supermarkets, private car parks and service stations. The vast majority of EV owners, according to EVA Scotland, charge their cars at home.

It’s predicted that investment of around £1 billion will be required for Scotland’s public charging network, creating considerable opportunities to attract a range of service providers and private capital.

Charge Place Scotland – which operates the system connecting public chargers from over 350 installers through a single unified point of access for drivers, handling fault reports to the maintenance providers - recently partnered with the UK’s largest EV single solution charge card provider PAUA to provide a platform enabling EV owners to access multiple networks anywhere in the country.

Other charge point providers, including Osprey Charging, see major expansion opportunities in Scotland. It already operates 30 rapid chargers in 18 locations in retail parks and pubs restaurants. Earlier this year, it opened a new high-power charging location at Haddington Retail Park just off the A1 outside Edinburgh with three 75kW rapid chargers earlier and is now looking at Aberdeen and Inverness.

Ian Johnston, Osprey’s CEO ,said: “ We will be adding to our current sites with two further ultrarapid charging hubs in development near Glasgow and Loch Lomond. These will bring the high availability and reliability that drivers now expect.”

It’s predicted that investment of around £1 billion will be required for Scotland’s public charging network, creating considerable opportunities to attract a range of service providers and private capital.

Neil Swanson, director of EVA Scotland, stresses the importance of maintaining high delivery of fast and rapid charge points. He said: “ We are seeing sales of electric vehicles in Scotland continue to grow exponentially and we expect to see the market beat the 2030 deadline when the sales of all petrol and diesel cars banned

“As EVs accounted for one in seven cars sold in August, showing approximately 17% of steady growth over the past 12 months, never has it been so important to have a charging infrastructure that includes fast and rapid chargers, capable of supporting the challenges ahead, ensuring equitable access, leaving no part of society behind.”

Scotland’s 32 councils have an important role to play in the provision of charge points for local communities and most are discussing options with companies such as ubitricity and Connected Kerb. ubitricity is a Shell company whose charge point system enables local authorities to provide on-street charging for EV owners who don’t have a driveway and home charging facilities. A spokesman explained: “Rapid and fast charging is brilliant for long journeys when EV owners need to quickly recharge but when it comes to day-today needs, perceived long wait times for charging are sometimes viewed as inconvenient for many, particularly for those who travel as part of their job.

“Most of our end users plug into our 5kw street chargers when they return from work and unplug in the morning before their morning commute. Our chargers, like home chargers are used overnight. Multiple charging options are needed for a fit for purpose EV charging infrastructure network.”

Electric Vehicle Association Scotland advises government on policy and represents EV owners.

WE CAN’T RETURN TO ‘BUSINESS AS USUAL’

Will the government perform yet another U-turn on sustainability? It’s looking likely, says Professor Ian Thomson, Director of the Centre for Responsible Business at the University of Birmingham Business School.

Whoever manages to hold onto the job as Prime Minister, it’s clear that the Conservative government they lead until the next general election sees sustainability and the ESG business agenda as a low priority.

Faced with the immediacy of the cost-of-living crisis, financial markets in turmoil and war in Ukraine, that might seem understandable. But the consequences of our damaged climate system and severely diminished ecosystems, combined with the threat of climate and biodiversity collapse, are no less immediate or potentially devastating to any kind of future prosperity for business, the economy, and the country.

Understanding the full range of factors driving these crises, rather than simplistic, politically expedient slogans, is critical to any meaningful government intervention.

The prioritising of growth and deregulation, with a threat of a return to the age of austerity, signals a lurch back to an unsustainable economic orthodoxy. A determination to expand fossil fuel extraction through more fracking and oil and gas drilling licenses, and to conduct a ‘bonfire’ of EU legacy regulations, including the bankers’ bonus cap, is

aimed at repeating the ‘Big Bang’ of liberalised market-led growth in the 1980s, amplified by threats of cuts to public services.

But despite high-level recitations of the UK’s 2050 net-zero aspiration, there is considerable doubt, uncertainty, and contradictory evidence of any real commitment to ‘levelling up’ or a just transition to a sustainable UK, let alone support for sustainable business transformation.

Setting aside whether or not such an agenda will work, what the government is promoting is a ‘business as usual’ approach to the various unfolding crises, doubling down on past strategies that have already been proven failures when it comes to social and environmental sustainability. The direction of travel on issues like the climate crisis and equality over the past few decades has been to factor them into all aspects of policy. But now we seem to be returning to politicians treating them as ‘special cases’ or externalities to the central aim of economic growth. Indeed, in her recent Conservative Party conference speech, Truss talked about the ‘antigrowth coalition’ which seemed to demonise anyone who didn’t share this ideological ‘business as usual’ mindset.

But sustainability and growth aren’t mutually exclusive; in reality, they’re totally interdependent. Business and the economy are rooted in the

NET ZERO

University of Birmingham Business School

wellbeing of society and resilient natural systems. As we’ve seen with Covid and catastrophic wildfires worldwide, when the health of either is threatened, all human activity – economic or otherwise – is badly affected.

The sustainability agenda also represents a huge growth sector for business and an opportunity for government, with trillions of dollars globally in public and private investment for cleaner, renewable energy sources and technologies to meet the increasing public need and demand for more sustainable products and services. It’s this opportunity that the green industrial revolution seeks to capitalise upon, which would ultimately have the effect of mainstreaming sustainability and ESG principles within government and business.

Unfortunately, faced with a dizzying rise in energy and other costs and the likelihood of a recession, there is a real risk that companies in the UK will be looking to roll back their investment in ESG initiatives in the short- and medium-term.

Like the government, they may also start to view sustainability as a ‘special case’, or a project separate from their main operations. A responsible government would be helping industry to stay

the course during these turbulent times, not encouraging them to imitate their own short-term, growth-at-all-costs approach. As things stand, we could see the return of the outdated, greenwashing idea that a company that invests one per cent of its profits into sustainability makes them a responsible business, when we now know that to be truly responsible means making every pound generated beneficial to society and nature.

Ultimately, rowing back on ESG doesn’t make good business sense either. A recent YouGov poll commissioned by Birmingham Business School showed three-quarters of the public expect companies to have a net-zero strategy and almost half expect businesses to balance profits with social and environmental concerns.

So, society has moved on from this government’s regressive view and business needs to reflect these increasingly conscientious consumer sentiments if it wants to avoid reputational risks and remain competitive.

Moreover, although the public is ahead of business on sustainability, the YouGov poll shows business is also ahead of government, with almost a third of companies surveyed seeking to prioritise or balance profits with sustainability.

If the UK is to reach its net zero target by 2050 and contribute to global sustainability goals by 2030, then this double disconnect between public, business and government needs to be eliminated and all three be in alignment. Successive governments have promised it, the public expects it, the planet needs it, and business has to act on it.

THOMSON Director

birmingham.ac.uk

IAN

of the Centre for Responsible Business, University of Birmingham Business School

There is considerable doubt, uncertainty, and contradictory evidence of any real commitment to ‘levelling up’ or a just transition to a sustainable UK.

University of Birmingham Business School

CAN

TIC

SAVE THE WORLD (AGAIN)?

Bennet Summers, of OC&C Strategy Consultants, argues that TIC has a strong role to play in sustainability.

The TIC (Testing, Inspection, and Certification) industry has seen fundamental shifts, with rapid growth from those who are ‘saving the world’ (by delivering Covid testing, food safety and other life sciences, or digital security testing) at the expense of some more established players serving more challenged end-sectors (most notably, Oil & Gas or Aerospace).

The next frontier is imminent: Sustainability and ESG services are a colossal opportunity where TIC companies may have a strong ‘right to play’ ... but they will also face new, unfamiliar competitors and will need to make some tough choices to thrive in the future.

What is the opportunity, really?

Although the TIC sector has existed in some form for hundreds of years, for many this previously ‘under the radar’ sector came to prominence during the start of the Covid pandemic, when PCR testing and Covid-safe assurance marks were thrust into public consciousness, and lab capacity and testing protocols the subject of daily news updates.

choice. However, there were major challenges to doing so, from the structural (‘We need consistent standards across continents’) to the pragmatic (‘The underlying data can’t be trusted yet, or just isn’t there’).

Why now?

The opportunities and challenges are not new (we were already asking ‘Can TIC solve climate change?’ in 2019), but three factors make this a major strategic focus right now:

Firstly, Regulation. The SEC’s announcement in March 2022 on Climate Disclosure requirements in the US, following on from the EU Green Taxonomy, provide a trigger for companies to audit and report their environmental impact, and it won’t be long until investors will expect the ESG reporting in Annual Reports to be as extensive and robust as the financial reporting.

BENNET SUMMERS Partner, OC&C Strategy Consultants

But now there is a far bigger crisis on everyone’s agenda: sustainability and the broader ESG agenda of companies, governments, and individuals. The sector is already very active in this area: from supporting energy transition and unprecedented investment in Renewables, to certifying the claims of service providers in recycling and the circular economy; and from accelerating Auto and Aero OEMs in reducing emissions and developing EV technology, to helping multinationals understand, improve and report their path to net zero footprints.

However, all major players would acknowledge it is still a ‘work in progress’ in terms of proposition and strategy. This shouldn’t be a surprise - most of their end customers are still figuring out what they need too.

This was very clear at the TIC Council 2022 Summit where the ‘Building an ecosystem of trust’ discussion demonstrated it was an area where TIC companies had the capabilities, expertise, and credibility with customers to become provider of

These ambitious targets not only highlight how far most companies are from being able to properly assess their environmental footprint, but also throw up areas they need to improve (‘How do I trust my supply chain beyond Scope 1 and 2? What do Scope 1, 2 and 3 really mean?’). And getting data that can be trusted and escapes ‘greenwashing’ has proved challenging: just look at apparel, where the Higg Index sustainability profiles have come under fire for their methodology and their use in marketing claims suspended in Norway.

Secondly, investors’ priorities and expectations are shifting markedly, regardless of the regulatory backdrop.

Public equity markets are seeing capital shift towards funds with higher ESG ratings, which in the short term has harmed listed TIC companies seen as over-exposed to Oil & Gas and Aerospace markets, while Environmental services and Food supply chain security command a premium at the same time.

Even more starkly, Private Equity continues to be very active in TIC markets, and willing to pay a premium for companies well-positioned to capture ESG-driven new demand, as recent high-profile

And to fill in the data gaps that exist today, technology and data providers are looking to build direct customer relationships, promising a digital interface that minimises the time burden.

transactions demonstrate - including Temasek’s investment in Element Materials Technology, and Leonard Green’s acquiring Pace Analytical this year.

Thirdly, there is an increasingly receptive customer mindset post-pandemic, not just driven by fear of new regulation or desire to appease investors (without ‘greenwashing’, of course). OC&C Strategy Consultants interview thousands of end-customers each year across TIC’s many and varied markets, and there is a clear paradigm shift in what they are looking for and how they make decisions: it’s no longer enough to wait for the regulator to put the standards out there.

Responsibility for ESG is now a board role, not delegated to the Compliance department or (worse) the corporate comms team. One of the clearest examples of this is in Environmental Testing: I remember 10 years ago explaining to the CEO of a business specialising in air, soil, and water testing that customers really didn’t care about the results, and it was a cost of doing business where all that mattered was low cost, fast turnaround time, and a brand trusted to not cut corners. Those factors are still important, but customers will now pay a premium for insight well beyond the regulatory minimum, and for help in interpreting the results across their business footprint. Three decades of unit price deflation has been reversed.

So what?

As ever, with so much opportunity and new demands to navigate, there is plenty of competition to define and deliver on these customer needs - and so there are some critical choices that must be faced:

Firstly, new markets mean new competitors. The boundaries of the TIC market have become increasingly blurred in recent years, and nowhere is this more true than in Sustainability. In particular, Professional Services firms view this as a priority: the Big 4 Audit firms see ESG reporting as the next major battleground; and Environmental consultants like ERM or SLR, who have long been a channel to market for testing providers, will increasingly be competing in certification and assurance.

And to fill in the data gaps that exist today, technology and data providers (eg, Sustainalytics, Ecovadis) are looking to build direct customer relationships, promising a digital interface that minimises the time burden. But no provider has the “complete package” yet - and are unlikely to any time soon without building partnerships across the value chain (as our survey last year of TIC Council members demonstrated - see graphic).

This highlights an important decision about where to play in the value chain. “If there’s a Gold Rush, sell shovels” is often the best advice for outsourcing businesses, and there are plenty of ‘shovel’ propositions that TIC players are well placed to provide: these include audit and inspection,

certification (to ISO standards or more proprietary marks like Resnet’s HERS Index), various levels of supply chain accreditation, as well as the fair labour checks required to fulfil the “S” in ESG.

One of the challenges frequently cited by customers is lack of a “level playing field” across global supply chains in terms of data, consistency of standards, and even taxonomy. Providing the tools to deliver this is a big prize that the TIC industry should be well placed to capture, without having to compete head-to-head with professional services firms for customer share of wallet, or for (expensive and scarce) talent.

Finally, all this highlights fundamental choices about where to focus. As recently as 2015, it felt like heresy to suggest that industry vertical focus was preferable to diversification in TIC but the wisdom in that choice has been borne out with Eurofins now the largest TIC player globally. This will become increasingly stark given levels of investment in technology and talent required to serve a broader set of needs, and already we are seeing some of the highest growth and profitability coming from providers with not just a clear end vertical focus, but with a specific customer segment focus within a vertical. The Assurance value chain demonstrates this, with a bifurcation emerging between those that focus on large, complex customers who pay a premium for bespoke services, and the tech-enabled lower cost providers serving the mass market.

One thing is for sure. The centuries-old independent TIC sector will continue to see rapid evolution in the next decade, with winners required to show vision and leadership. As Intertek CEO Andre Lacroix said at the recent TIC Council Summit: “The clock is ticking and we in the TIC industry have a huge role to play.”

Potential roles for TIC Providers in the ESG value chain, and where TIC Council members think they could participate in the future.

FINAL CHANCE TO APPLY FOR DECARBONISATION FUNDING

The £289m Industrial Energy Transformation Fund has been supporting the permanent deployment of industrial energy efficiency and decarbonisation technologies on industrial sites in England, Wales and Northern Ireland since July 2020.

Now is the final opportunity to apply for funding from this successful programme.

Phase 2 of the IETF provides grant funding for feasibility and engineering studies, and for the deployment of industrial energy efficiency and deep decarbonisation projects.

The Dept for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is providing capital investment for industrial sites, such as manufacturing, mining, quarrying and material recycling, both within and outside the industrial clusters, to transition to a low carbon future.

The £70million Autumn 2022 window is open for applications from now until 13 January 2023.

The competition will provide grant funding towards the costs of:

Feasibility and engineering studies for potential deployment projects that will deliver energy efficiency or decarbonisation benefits if implemented, enabling decision-makers to make informed investment choices.

Deployment of mature energy efficiency technologies that improve industrial energy efficiency and reduce energy demand (TRL 8-9).

Deployment of deep decarbonisation technologies that reduce carbon emissions associated with the industrial process (TRL 7-9).

Eligibility

The Phase 2: Autumn 2022 competition is open to businesses of any size registered and operating in England, Wales or Northern Ireland. Some IETF funding rules may differ for businesses based in Northern Ireland.

If your site is based in Scotland, you can apply for the Scottish Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (SIETF).

Contact  IETF@gov.scot  for more information.

Non-road mobile machinery

In this application window, the IETF will also support projects that improve the energy efficiency and/or reduce emissions of non-road mobile machinery (NRMM). The machinery must be necessary to, and a part of, the industrial process located within the boundary of the eligible site. More information can be found in the applicant guidance.

Industry type

Your business must operate an existing site which falls into one of the following SIC codes:

Eligible industrial processes SIC codes

Mining and quarrying 05101 through to 05200

07100 through to 08990

Manufacturing 10000 through to 33200

Recovery and recycling of materials 38320

Data centre 63110

The funding will be awarded as grants towards the total costs of successful proposals. Your proposal must fall within the stated minimum and maximum award thresholds in this table. Unless otherwise

Is your business seeking funds to help move to a low-carbon future?

The Dept for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is providing capital investment for industrial sites, such as manufacturing, mining, quarrying and material recycling, both within and outside the industrial clusters, to transition to a low carbon future.

specified, thresholds refer to the minimum and maximum grant that you can apply for.

Funding applied for Minimum threshold per application

Maximum threshold per project

Energy efficiency deployment projects £100,000 £14 million

Deep decarbonisation deployment projects £100,000 £30 million

Engineering studies £50,000 (total eligible cost) £14 million

Feasibility studies £30,000 (total eligible cost) £7 million

To view the applicant guidance and make an application for funding, visit the competition page. For more information about Phase 2 or the application process for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, email ietf@beis.gov.uk.

RICHARD SMITH Partner, Sandstone Law

NET ZERO GREEN WASHING: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

Richard Smith, partner at Sandstone Law, argues that little will change without proper government regulation.

The UN’s High-Level Expert Group recently published its report on ‘greenwashing’ at COP27. This is long overdue and welcome.

The report slams greenwashing, which is when a company or entity misleads the public into believing that is doing more to protect the environment than it is. This includes weak net-zero pledges.

The purpose of the report is to provide a roadmap to bring integrity to net-zero commitments by industry, financial institutions, cities and regions, and to support a global, equitable transition to a sustainable future.

According to the group of UN experts, companies and other organisations cannot claim to be ‘net zero’ while continuing to build or invest in new fossil fuel supply or any kind of environmentally destructive activities. They also cannot be involved in or have their partners take part in lobbying activities against climate change or just report on one part of their business’s assets while hiding the rest. They conclude that “We must have zero tolerance for net-zero greenwashing.”

The Challenge and the Opportunity

Voluntary efforts by non-state actors and standardisation bodies are playing an important role by fostering best practices and forging leadership coalitions that build support for an accelerated transition to net zero. But voluntary commitments can only take us so far.

Two-thirds of the largest businesses still lack a net zero pledge, and of the one‐third that do, only a portion have committed to an independent voluntary initiative. The majority of privately businesses and state‐owned enterprises have no net zero target at all.

The report says, “We recognise that there are different approaches to regulation across jurisdictions. In this context, we believe that an international Task Force on net zero Regulation

Two-thirds of the largest businesses still lack a net zero pledge, and of the one‐third that do, only a portion have committed to an independent voluntary initiative. The majority of privately businesses and state‐owned enterprises have no net zero target at all.

could explore how our recommendations could be turned into regulatory requirements and the steps required in the different jurisdictions to have them adopted.”

Governments, including ours, have so far avoided much regulation on climate change at all. They still maintain that a market-led, voluntary approach is best. They think that new laws will be damaging to the economy. But history has taught us that it is only once laws are introduced that real social change occurs, and even then, it can take decades. Where climate change is concerned, however, there is now an urgency that should take priority.

If businesses can see the opportunities for their reputations, investment and long-term prosperity that can come from becoming sustainable, it will help to solve the climate crisis, but this will not happen without legal regulation.

Richard has been ranked in the top tier for environmental law advice in The Legal 500 and in Chambers’ legal directories for over 15 years.