Net Zero

I’m thrilled to welcome you to the first edition of Net Zero. The team at Blue Marble have created the magazine to provide businesses with useful insights into the UK’s net-zero agenda – and we’re delighted to launch it on Earth Day (April 22).

As a consultancy supporting organisations on their journey to net zero, we understand the issues. That’s why we’ve focused on topics pertinent to those undertaking this mission. Read interviews with companies already reducing their carbon output, find out if experts think now’s the time to switch to electric vehicles, and understand the important differences between net zero and carbon neutral. We aim to provide a roadmap to help companies refine their response to climate change.

Until now, the crossover between environmentalism and business was pretty niche. Before long, however, all companies will be accountable for their carbon emissions – be it to supply-chain customers, stakeholders or government. That’s why Blue Marble takes a positive and probusiness approach.

Starting the journey to net zero builds value into a business in many ways, and simultaneously aligns with our collective responsibilities to each other and future generations.

Henry Waite, founder

easy ways to reduce your business’ carbon footprint

As COO at Blue Marble, Tim Kemp often encounters business owners with concerns about the cost of reducing their carbon footprint. Yet, he says, significant strides on the journey to net zero can be achieved by making a few simple and low-cost changes

Avoid sending business waste to landfill

Commercial and industrial waste that goes to landfill has a footprint for your company 21 times higher than waste that’s recycled or energy recovered. Find a local waste contractor with a zero-to-landfill policy.

Help employees reduce their carbon footprint

By offering a cycle to work scheme and providing showers, your business could encourage employees to lower the carbon footprint of their journeys to and from work.

5. Adopt alternatives to

air-freight shipping

2. Use suppliers with a quantifiable carbon footprint

Using suppliers who know their carbon footprint will better enable you to calculate your own carbon footprint. This will, in turn, help you attract customers on their own net-zero journey.

Replace flushing urinals with waterless valves

Urinals are automatically flushed with clean water, even if unused. However, those fitted with a hygienic waterless valve need less maintenance and can save 100,000 litres of water a year.

Shipment by air produces 87 times more greenhouse gases than sending goods the same distance using roll-on/ roll-off ships. Where possible, transport goods by land and sea, and only air freight urgent cargo.

Scrutinise your business travel

Reducing air miles isn’t the only way to make a difference: a hotel’s location and infrastructure can affect its carbon footprint. Emissions from a hotel in the Maldives can be 28 times higher than its equivalent in France.

7.

Switch

to motionsensor interior lighting

Installing passive infrared sensors on internal lighting means you don’t need to rely on people turning off lights in unused areas, thereby reducing energy consumption and bills.

illumination

8. Maximise bright decor and passive

Painting internal walls white and floors grey will enhance the effect of existing lighting. Improving access to natural daylight also helps reduce reliance on artificial lighting.

9. Utilise remote energy-

monitoring systems

These systems are easy to install and provide valuable insights into a business’ power consumption. They help improve efficiency and save money by identifying wasted energy.

Install a renewable energy solution

Funding is available for many businesses with their own premises, so capital outlay for installing renewable energy solutions such as solar panels, wind turbines and heat pumps could be minimal.

Revving up a

Electric vehicles (EVs) are on the tipping point of mass take-up. Wondering whether now’s the time to join the revolution or if it’s more environmentally friendly to run your existing petrol or diesel car into the ground? We asked the experts

The motoring journalist and former Top Gear presenter has long been a champion of EVs and is also an ambassador for FairCharge, a campaign to make electric vehicles accessible to all.

What was the catalyst for your interest in EVs?

The Damascene moment came in 1996 when I was in Los Angeles filming Top Gear. We were doing a piece on a new electric car made by General Motors called the EV1. I was driving down Sunset Boulevard in this red and slinky silent projectile thinking: this is the future.

I’ve been driving an EV every day for the last nine years and I now drive a Tesla. I've done 20,000 miles in six months. I’ve been to France and back in it and use it to commute up and down the M40. It's blameless.

Is it more eco friendly to switch from a petrol or diesel car to an EV, or to run an existing car into the ground?

Quentin Willson

Drives: Tesla Model 3

The environmental benefits of electric cars far, far outweigh petrol and diesel, but you've got to weigh it up because the outright cost of an EV is obviously greater.

If you think you may as well run your old car for the next ten years, because by then EVs will be cheaper, well, that may not be the case. The price of repairs is astronomical and getting an older car through its MOT can be a major issue.

The whole-life cost of an EV is at parity with petrol and diesel cars because the secondhand value of EVs has gone up remarkably. You could buy a Tesla now, drive it for a year and then sell it for virtually what you paid for it.

If people are pondering whether it’s the right time to switch, given the current

spectre of 200p, 300p or even 400p a litre for fuel, now would seem to be a good time. The only problem is finding a secondhand EV because they're quite limited. You might also have to wait a while if you want to buy a new EV, due to a crisis in the supply of semiconductors. But do it now as demand is only going to go one way.

Have EVs passed the tipping point?

We've seen an exponential rise in EV registrations monthon-month. I believe they were 22% of the entire market in February 2022, and I remember a time when they were 1%, so it really is happening.

'I was driving down Sunset Boulevard in this red and slinky silent projectile thinking: this is the future'

How can it be better to build a whole new car than keep one that’s already been manufactured?

There is an argument that the carbon embedded in the car has probably been paid back because it was made ten or 15 years ago, but that doesn’t count the emissions. If you’re driving a diesel they’re pretty bad – and petrol isn’t much better. Every time you turn that engine on, it’s putting stuff into the air that’s not good for the environment or for air quality. So you can take the argument about carbon to a certain point, but you can’t extrapolate it to air quality. And that’s one of the most pressing considerations with 36,000 people dying prematurely from respiratory diseases each year in the UK.

Could a new EV be technologically redundant in three years’ time?

They are getting better: the ranges are increasing and if you change your car every three years you’re not going to fall much behind. You’ll never be marooned with an electric car because the price you’ll get when you sell it will be so high. I ran a little Nissan LEAF for three years and when I sold it to a dealer it only cost me £200 in depreciation across those three years. And all that time it wasn’t producing any emissions from a tailpipe.

Electric cars aren’t for everybody but, as they get cheaper (which they will) and more familiar, I think most people will want to change simply because they’re also quiet. There is a serenity to electric cars that we haven’t really researched: you’re more calm, less stressed and you stop to charge, which means the whole journey is far less intense.

Do you think rising energy prices will lead to greater uptake of EVs?

There are gloomy pundits saying we could be looking at $250 for a barrel of oil by the summer. Doubling the cost of oil means doubling the cost of fuel, which means doubling the amount of money you have to spend every week to fill your car, and that will seriously affect people’s disposable income.

The best thing we can do for this generation, the next generation and the generation after is to manage energy transition from dirty, polluting fossil fuels to sustainable, renewable, low-carbon electricity.

'I ran a Nissan LEAF for three years and when I sold it to a dealer it only cost me £200 in depreciation'

The RAC has embraced the EV revolution. It’s created a mobile charging system for rescuing stranded EVs and is the first national breakdown organisation to put an EV into use to attend breakdowns.

Is now the moment for consumers to jump on the EV bandwagon?

There’s no question: electric is coming.

By 2030 you won’t be able to buy a new petrol or diesel vehicle. There are already lots of EVs on the road: just over 400,000 pure EVs have been registered for use since 2010 – and many more plug-in hybrids.

It’s because of this that we’ve been conscious of needing to lead the way in EV breakdown technology. Working in partnership with a company

Simon Williams RAC

Drives: Tesla Model 3

in Shrewsbury called Original we’ve developed a system called EV Boost. It enables us to recharge a severely depleted electric vehicle from an on-board generator – which means we don’t have to carry a great big battery around. In 30 minutes it gives a car about 10 miles of battery power.

Is it more eco friendly to switch from petrol to electric, or to run an existing car until it conks out?

We’re in the process of doing a piece of work to demonstrate this: the embodied carbon in a new EV is environmentally better than keeping an old internal combustion engine car on the road. It’s definitely

better to make the switch.

You’ll also save money, particularly as the price of petrol and diesel are at record highs. The savings you would make, depending on your car’s fuel economy and the number of miles you drive, are going to be pretty extensive, especially if you drive approximately 10,000 miles a year.

We’re working with a consultant battery electrochemist and he’s already proven that it’s better to take your old car off the road –even though it’s built already – and to buy a brand new EV that’s been built with an energy consequence.

‘By 2030 you won’t be able to buy a new petrol or diesel vehicle’

Ian Featherstone Energy Saving Trust

Drives: Mazda 2

Energy Saving Trust is an independent organisation that works to address the climate emergency.

Is it better to swap a combustion engine car for an EV or to drive an existing car into the ground?

If your vehicle is near the end of its life, then there's no doubt that, if you can afford it, you should go for an EV. You'd probably be buying a used vehicle and there are growing numbers on the market. But if you have a car with several years of life left, the decision might centre on how far you drive each year.

The 2019 National Travel Survey stats show the average mileage for a privately owned car is 7,200 miles a year. If you drive fewer miles, there is an argument to keep the car. If more, the next owner is likely to drive fewer miles so it could be better to sell the car and do your miles in a vehicle without emissions.

If using a car for any sort of business activity, it's quite likely that an EV is going to be cheaper than a conventional car over the same period of time. However, there are other

factors to consider, especially now we're looking at fuel prices of over 150p a litre. A car that does 45 miles to the gallon costs 15-16p a mile just to drive it, but there are some low overnight-electricity rates at between 4p and 7.5p a kilowatt hour, which equates to a couple of pence a mile. If you drive 10,000 miles or more a year, the difference is a lot of money.

Will economic, rather than environmental issues, be the catalyst for mass uptake of EVs?

A lot of people do want to do the right thing for the environment but are concerned about what it's going to cost. However, it may be a case of doing the sums and realising there’s a good chance of making savings.

Should there be concern about the environmental impact of mining lithium for batteries?

There are environmental concerns with any mining,

so you have to compare it with the risks associated with mining oil and transporting it around the world.

The batteries themselves aren't going to end up in landfill as they're full of valuable materials and, in any case, legislation will require recyling. So although the process of recycling lithium-ion batteries isn't totally worked out, there's a lot of progress in that area. By the time there's any volume of batteries coming back, the materials will be recyclable.

People are concerned that batteries may only last four or five years, as in some laptops and phones, but vehicle manufacturers are putting eight-year warranties on these things and they're not expecting them to conk out the following day. It's likely the batteries will last as long as the vehicles, and then the whole car will be recycled – as diesel and petrol cars are now.

Advances are happening all the time to make the situation more sustainable.

'Batteries aren't going to end up in landfill as they're full of valuable materials'

Mukti Mitchell Carbon Savvy

Drives: Specialized Como 4 e-bike

Mukti is an environmental entrepreneur who has won awards in the areas of carbon calculation, and eco design and innovation.

Is it better to swap petrol and diesel for electric or is it more environmentally friendly to drive existing cars into the ground?

It depends how many miles you drive each year. If you do a lot it's worth switching now. If you do hardly any miles, you'd be better to wait.

To understand why, you need to look at a comparison between a medium-sized petrol car and a medium-sized electric car. The embodied carbon (the CO2 emitted to create it) for a medium-sized petrol car is about 5.3 tonnes. Electric cars have more embodied carbon because they are more high-tech and their battery manufacture has higher emissions, so the embodied carbon for manufacturing a medium-sized electric car is around 11.2 tonnes.

However, the electric car has much lower emissions per mile. It does have some emissions because producing electricity on the grid is only partly from renewables.

Driving 10,000 miles a year in a petrol car would emit 2,790 kilos of CO2, but an electric car would emit just 520 kilos of CO2. That's a saving of around 2.27 tonnes of CO2 per year from the fuel. So if you drive around 10,000 miles a year and you swap your medium-sized petrol car for a medium-sized electric car, it would take 2.6 years to pay off the additional embodied carbon from the manufacture of the new EV. After that time period you'd have a lower carbon footprint.

If you drive an average of 20,000 miles a year it would only take 1.3 years to reach a lower carbon footprint. These calculations assume you charge your electric car at home half the time and that you are on a renewable electricity tariff.

What if you can't afford to go electric?

Of course it depends on your own finances and personal preferences. If you can't afford to switch to electric immediately, reduce your mileage in your petrol car

and you’ll have nearly as much effect.

One of the best ways to do this is to buy an electric bicycle and use it for your short journeys. They have a tiny fraction of the embodied energy of cars because they weigh around 100 times less. And they cost just .03p per mile to run, with carbon emissions per mile of around 5g (compared to 300g per mile for a mediumsized petrol car). Plus you get all the benefits of cycling and being outdoors.

‘Reduce your mileage in your petrol car and you’ll have nearly as much effect’

The road to

Experiencing an increasing sense of urgency about the need to start your business’ journey to net zero? Blue Marble’s COO Tim Kemp explains how the consultancy makes it easy for businesses to take the leap

As if running a company didn’t come with enough stressors, the requirement to respond to the climate crisis is putting extra heat on business owners. When should they start their journey to net zero? Is it better to wait for legislation that forces the issue or to act sooner and be prepared for the inevitable requests from stakeholders and potential customers?

Beyond the most basic requirement to avoid disastrous climate change, or to be ready to meet the needs of those you supply, it’s also worth taking stock of how not being carbon savvy could affect the growth of your business. If you plan to raise investment on a business that’s carbon heavy, it’s likely to be viewed as extremely vulnerable to future carbon taxes.

Conversely, acting quickly provides the benefit of potentially getting ahead of the competition, and you’ll also enjoy the positive associations of being seen to do the right thing. It makes sense to start scaling down your footprint as soon as is viable.

Blue Marble’s COO Tim Kemp is no stranger to answering business owners’ questions on when to start the journey; he’s had numerous conversations with those who’ve approached Blue Marble looking for help. We asked him to explain the process the consultancy follows with new clients.

What to measure?

‘We always look back over a 12-month period, which gives us something to measure against, year-on-year. When that year starts is entirely up to the client: it can be the financial year, the calendar year or any date they choose, as long as there are 12 clear months of figures to analyse.

‘First, we look at the company structure. This is to understand what they have direct control over and, therefore, what they’re able to change to reduce their carbon output. These decisions help us account for subsidiaries and joint ventures and define the organisation to be measured.

‘Scope is a useful term that we use to explain the different areas of control the client has, and how these areas affect their carbon output.

‘Scope 1 represents the elements that the business directly owns or controls. For example, if the business owns an office and has control over the gas boiler, that would be in Scope 1. If, however, the business is run from a shared office space where it has no control over

the heating, that would be outside Scope 1 because the business has no agency to make reductions.

‘Scope 2 covers emissions associated with energy the business buys ‘over the fence’ ie, where it doesn’t create the emissions from its generation. More often than not, that’s electricity but it could be heating, steam or compressed air.

‘Scope 3 covers emissions that happen as a result of the business’ operations, but which it doesn’t directly own or control. This is where companies that have a go at doing the carbon-accounting process themselves run into trouble because they often don’t understand what they’re required to consider or what they can exclude legitimately.

‘It’s important to understand that companies are not expected to include absolutely everything in Scope 3 but should be transparent about what is covered and what isn’t.’

What to include

‘Determining which Scope 3 factors should be included is about understanding how important they are to the running of the business. For example, a company providing online teaching doesn’t have direct control over the emissions that result from the hosting of its website, but it’s key to the business, so it might consider that.

‘However, in the case of a building contractor that happens to have a limited website, you probably wouldn’t include the emissions from its web hosting as the website is not a core part of its business – and the emissions associated with it are proportionately small. A good test is to consider how much data is available on any area. There’s no point trying to take account of the emissions of the company in China that dug the coal that was used to melt the steel to make your chair –it’s just not feasible until everybody accounts for their footprint in that way.

‘It’s also key to consider what’s important to the business’ stakeholders as they may take a view on what should be accounted for.’

When’s the best time to begin?

‘Quite a few people tell us things like: ‘I’ve got plans to buy electric cars this year, so we’d like to do this next year after we’ve made those changes’.

‘They should actually start before they make those changes. A business’ footprint on the journey to net zero should be (roughly) a 4.2% reduction per year, but if you create your initial baseline after you’ve already picked all the low-hanging fruit, the journey to net zero is going to be a lot harder. The earlier you capture your baseline, the easier the transition is going to be. A number of companies have told us they wish they’d started the process some time ago.’

How does the process work?

‘It usually only takes about six weeks to do the audit and create the plan, but this does depend on how engaged the business is when it comes to chasing down the information required.

‘First, the client meets with me or one of my colleagues and we have a fact-finding meeting. Then we use those findings to create a bespoke questionnaire about the company activities. We can also support them with additional questionnaires they can pass on to employees to help capture their commuting and homeworking routines.

‘Once we receive that information, we put it into our model, calculate the footprint and then issue the report. This explains how the calculation was produced and how the footprint for the year is broken down into the different scopes. It reveals the various ways they can reduce their footprint for the year to come and beyond.

‘As the report initially calculates the year that’s already gone, and won’t be affected by changes put in place, the next consideration is whether they want to achieve carbon neutrality for that year. If they do, we can offset the carbon emitted through an approved offsetting project. This can be anything from developing renewable energy systems across the world to protecting areas of rainforest from logging.

‘We also work with more unusual solutions that physically remove carbon. Carbon char is one: during logging, trees are stripped down and the wood for planks removed, while the branches are left to degrade, creating carbon dioxide of which only a small amount is locked into the soil. However, the alternative is for the branches to be collected and put in a pyrolysis kiln. The latter is heated in the absence of oxygen, which stabilises the carbon. This char can then be put back into the soil, locking in carbon while also improving the soil and helping with drainage.

‘The business will receive information about the projects it has supported and get the certificates for those projects.’

How does a business demonstrate it’s on the road to net zero?

‘We provide our clients with Blue Marble certification logos and marketing collateral, which they can use to show they have been carbon assessed. There are a number of options which range from simply

being assessed once to becoming a ‘carbon neutral organisation’ – meaning the client has chosen to offset the preceding year. If they’re already carbon neutral, they can choose to be ‘carbon neutral and committed’ meaning they’re committed to maintaining that status until a certain date.

‘All the businesses we work with are included in the member area of the Blue Marble website, so if they’re looking for carbon neutral suppliers they can find them there. It’s a great way to find like-minded businesses to work with, while simultaneously reducing their Scope 3 emissions – which facilitates their own net-zero plan.’

What happens if the report recommends very expensive measures?

‘We are pro-business and non-judgemental. We wouldn’t suggest, for example, that a business gets rid of a 4x4 pickup that’s ideal for the job and replace it with an electric one with lower emissions which doesn’t suit the purpose. The best solutions are the practical ones which don’t impact on the business and even save it money – that’s what we aim to deliver.’

‘The earlier you capture your baseline, the easier the transition is going to be’

Fit for the future

With its #TrainAnywhere ethos, Be Military Fit has sparked a revolution in the fitness industry. Its performance director Tommy Matthews reveals how the company is staying ahead by offering workouts in unlikely places

Be Military Fit (BMF) is a powerful disruptor of the UK’s gym-dominant fitness industry and is Britain’s fastest growing outdoor fitness franchise. Its management team (including co-owner TV survival expert Bear Grylls) are passionate about delivering effective and planet-friendly outdoor workout programmes.

#TrainAnywhere has become a rallying cry for those keen to embrace BMF’s distinctive fresh-air-friendly bootcamps and military-style workouts.

‘Unrestrained by bricks-and-mortar sites, our concept is simple: you can train pretty much anywhere,’ says performance director Tommy Matthews. ‘You can get our training services in stunning outdoor green spaces, on a rooftop in central London, in a new urban container beneath a railway bridge or on demand, digitally.

‘We can get to places other fitness providers can’t operate, but the real plus is that it’s all achieved with minimal impact on the planet.’

The company’s ethos of shunning the type of energysapping fixtures favoured by traditional gyms (machines, treadmills, lights and power showers) has given it planet-friendly kudos. Franchisees show commitment to its green ethos by organising summer litter-picks in parks and fields, while its members enjoy exercising in the fresh air and using whatever’s to hand to enhance their workout (bodyweight, benches, tyres and ropes).

However, in 2021 Bear decided to take the company one step further by introducing an initiative to get BMF to carbon neutral. It enlisted the services of environmental consultancy Blue Marble and officially reached carbon-neutral status in February 2022.

‘In 2021 Bear decided to get BMF to carbon neutral’

‘Working with Blue Marble was fantastic. We just provided them with the relevant information and they did the calculations for us,’ says Tommy. ‘In the past we used to say, “We’re the greenest fitness company out there”. Now our carbonneutral status is verified and we have a roadmap for further improvements.’

Receiving an official stamp of carbon neutrality was an important milestone but BMF is keen to go all the way to net zero. A recent innovation has been the introduction of containerised outdoor training facilities, allowing it to reduce its reliance on diesel vans to carry kit.

‘Our urban containerised gyms enable us to offer group workouts in city centres,’ says Tommy. ‘All that’s needed to deliver an experience that goes above and beyond some of the more fancy gyms is

a good-quality recycled shipping container, a few lights, workout equipment and a screen for heartrate monitoring.

‘Franchisees no longer have to transport heavy equipment to workout locations in vans and, if they live nearby, it means they can walk or cycle to training locations.’

For the vehicles still required, BMF is in the process of swapping its diesel vans for EVs.

‘Finding the right EVs for our business was a difficult thing to crack at first, but companies are now beginning to design and manufacture EVs suitable for transporting equipment,’ says Tommy. ‘We’ve also entered into a partnership with Land Rover and will introduce two of its EVs into the business later this year.’

‘Our carbon-neutral status is verified and we have a roadmap for further improvements’

Alongside its public fitness programmes, BMF creates bespoke training services for PLCs and government bodies. It’s currently delivering a programme helping NHS staff improve their health and wellbeing via digital training services and local events. It is also working with Capita (as part of an Army recruitment programme), delivering training for potential recruits who are undergoing pre-assessment physicals.

‘Having the ability to demonstrate we’re carbon neutral and heading towards net zero gives us a leg up when pitching for contracts with large corporations. Not only do we offer a great service to improve the health and wellbeing of a workforce but we can do it in a way that’s good for the planet.’

Likewise, when choosing suppliers, BMF is keen to partner with businesses on similar carbon-neutral and net-zero journeys.

‘We understand it is more challenging for some businesses; reaching carbon neutral was a relatively easy transition for us because of our low carbon emissions. However, all companies have a responsibility to start making the kind of marginal gains that will have an impact on the planet.’

For BMF, it’s clear that getting its membership fit for life goes hand-in-hand with creating a business that’s fit for the future.

‘It’s about taking steps now that will help shift the mentality,’ says Tommy. ‘There are lots of companies out there with loud voices who can help initiate change.

‘Bear often stresses that being able to influence others is really positive and that when companies take a stance it inspires individuals too.

‘He’s very proud of us getting our carbon neutral award but knows it doesn’t stop there. He’ll be helping open doors and getting the right suppliers to help us reach net zero.’

BMF is keen to future-proof its business, be that creating more accessible fitness programmes or making planet-friendly changes to the way it operates.

‘We are more raw and genuine than most other fitness companies, an ethos that lends itself to the net-zero mission and appeals to the next generation,’ says Tommy.

‘It’s amazing how much more the younger generation considers environmental issues than my generation did. How do young people choose which fitness programme they want to engage with? One of their considerations is how that business operates and its impact on the planet.’

‘There are lots of companies out there with loud voices who can help initiate change’

BMF co-owner Bear Grylls

pants Smarti

Who’d have guessed urinals would be at the forefront of water sustainability? Martin Richards of Devon’s Smarti Environmental reveals how its clever little gadget saves millions of litres of water from being flushed down the drain

Flushing and urinal usage have gone hand-in-hand for over 150 years However, in these eco-conscious times that looks to be changing. It’s all thanks to a genius piece of kit that slashes the volume of water flushed down the drain every time a Smarti-fitted urinal is used.

‘We’re a very unglamorous business,’ says Smarti Environmental founder Martin Richards, but that belies the role the waterless-tech company plays in helping solve the UK’s environmental challenges.

Traditional urinals flush, in total, around 217 billion litres of fresh water down the drain each year – more than the volume of water held in the UK’s largest reservoir. The process of treating this flushed water requires a huge amount of energy, which is where Smarti helps reduce our collective carbon output. In the UK, 2,266 kilotons of carbon dioxide equivalent are used each year to process and treat water. The financial and environmental costs go way beyond spending a penny.

The Devon business supplies, fits and maintains high-performance valves, which convert standard urinals into waterless systems. The retrofit technology is compatible with most existing systems and eradicates the use of water – and the carbon outputs associated with treating it.

It was when Smarti Environmental gained NHS supplier status in 2018 that the company realised how imperative it was to achieve its own netzero certification.

‘It was important that we knew our own carbon footprint so we could achieve a net-zero supply position within 24 months,’ explains Martin.

He enlisted the help of Blue Marble to identify where the company could be more efficient. The consultancy also worked with Smarti’s manufacturing partners to ensure the whole supply chain was as sustainable as possible.

‘As a result, we’re well positioned to meet the targets we’ve set ourselves to become a net-zero supplier,’ says Martin. ‘Since February 2022, all our manufacturing has taken place in the UK, which hugely reduces our carbon miles.’

Through its work with Blue Marble, Smarti Environmental can now assert it’s the only supplier of the high-performance valves that are exclusively manufactured in the UK.

That’s just the first flush of success – another patented, carbon-saving piece of tech from Smarti is coming down the pipe later this year.

Enzyme power

The no-flush system not only saves up to 100,000 litres of water per urinal per year, but also reduces aerosol bacteria and virus transmission by up to 98%, significantly improving washroom hygiene.

‘Water is flushed down the drains of urinals every hour of every day, so I was inspired by the idea that there was a way to make this more hygienic and less harmful to the planet,’ says Martin.

The need to make workplaces more sustainable was one of Smarti Environmental’s founding principles. Most of its clients are commercial organisations such as restaurants, bars and cinemas which have public conveniences. The tech’s sustainable credentials and hygiene benefits also made it an obvious choice for the NHS.

‘The NHS has ambitious plans to achieve net zero in just eight years. Waterless urinals are specified in its plans to become more sustainable, alongside things such as energy-saving lighting,’ says Martin.

When developing their system, the Smarti team had to understand the chemical reaction that takes place when urine and water mix, and work out how to deal with urine once water is removed from the equation.

Smarti uses SteriKleen enzyme cleaner and SteriKlear enzyme pods – both of which use friendly enzymes to break down the urine – so that by the time it reaches the sewage system it has minimal impact.

‘The financial and environmental costs go way beyond spending a penny’

Product footprints

Calculating a product carbon footprint (PCF) isn’t just a way for your company to understand the climate impact of its products; there are compelling business benefits too. Sam McGarrick explains

As climate change shoots up the agenda, a growing number of consumers are demanding to know more about the carbon footprint of products they buy. That’s why calculating a product carbon footprint (PCF) provides an excellent tool for engaging with customers keen to minimise their personal environmental impact.

Blue Marble product director, Sam McGarrick, recently helped launch its PCF service and believes there are tonnes of benefits to getting PCFs, including meeting customer demand, improving employee satisfaction and maintaining brand authenticity.

‘If your company already brands itself as ethical and sustainable, a PCF helps you demonstrate to customers and employees that you care enough to really investigate the impact you have on the environment,’ he says.

Industry standards

In some industries, calculating PCFs is an essential requirement demanded by the supply chain and investors.

‘Many companies need a PCF to become compliant with industry and regulatory requirements,’ says Sam. ‘Some of Blue Marble’s clients have large tenders where their end user requires them to supply a carbon-neutral product or, as a minimum, a figure for the carbon intensity of the product. For them, calculating a PCF is a must.’

Cost savings

Another benefit of going through the PCF process is that it has potential to create savings because the company is likely to identify areas where resources are being used inefficiently.

‘Often the areas that contribute most to an organisation’s greenhouse gas emissions are also economic drains,’ says Sam. ‘Reducing energy consumption at a time when energy costs are increasing not only reduces greenhouse gas emissions but also reduces costs.’

Stand out

Calculating a PCF for a product also offers marketing benefits, as communicating its greenhouse gas emissions can make it more appealing to retailers and help differentiate from close competitors.

‘Retailers are finding a growing number of customers are asking for climate information, so being able to state the product’s carbon emissions per kilogram of product is going to be more interesting to them than a product with no climate information,’ asserts Sam.

‘Often the areas that contribute most to an organisation’s greenhouse gas emissions are also economic drains’

Accreditation

It is possible to go down the route of doing selfverified PCFs but the reputational value of gaining independent verification is significant. Clients completing the Blue Marble PCF, for instance, carry its endorsement stamp on their product and are listed on its database.

Demonstrating credibility isn’t the sole reason companies opt for independent verification. Calculating a PCF – which is a subset of a life cycle assessment (LCA) – can be an extremely complex exercise.

‘A consultancy makes a PCF accessible,’ says Sam, ‘because, in reality, the process is sufficiently complex as to make it unviable for SMEs to attempt to conduct an LCA themselves.

‘Larger organisations with established sustainability teams may wish to bring the functionality in-house but, without that resource, outsourcing the calculation of PCF to a consultancy makes the most commercial sense.’

Strike while the iron’s hot Gaining PCFs helps businesses prepare for an era of environmental legislation and carbon taxes, as well as for a world in which consumers will want to calculate their own carbon footprint.

‘Potential legislation includes the Extended Producers Responsibility for Packaging which will mandate some labelling for packaging,’ says Sam. ‘DEFRA is also indicating that it’s looking into mandatory labelling for foodstuffs, although that may be some way off.’

How Blue Marble calculates a PCF

As communities across the globe face multiple layers of resource depletion – climate change and the pollution of air, water and soils – it’s rewarding for companies to work towards reducing these impacts by making products that are sustainable. Blue Marble’s PCF process helps clients understand and reduce their impact on climate change.

The consultancy guides clients through the process of choosing a specific life-cycle scope for goods or services, which could include raw material extraction, transport, manufacture, distribution, retail, use, recycling and waste management.

At the end of the process (which can be completed in a matter of days – although it may take six weeks to allow sufficient time to retrieve relevant data) the client gains Blue Marble certification.

1Define business aims

Blue Marble discusses with the client why they are measuring the footprint of their product and what their drivers are. Will the PCF be used to comply with supply chain requirements or will it be publicly disclosed and used as a marketing tool?

‘Blue Marble can help identify the best ways to communicate the PCF to customers, suppliers and investors’

2

Define scope or boundary

Clients are asked to choose a product and define a functional unit (FU). The FU is what is to be measured and could be anything from one jumper to 1kg of yoghurt. A simple processmapping exercise is then carried out to understand the inputs and outputs of each stage of the product’s life cycle.

3 Gather data

To calculate a PCF, Blue Marble uses modelling software which pulls from large databases carrying thousands of datasets created from academic and industry research. This is combined with the client’s primary data to create an equation with multiple data points which will calculate the product’s PCF.

4 Identify hotspots

Blue Marble works with clients to look at ways to reduce carbon hotspots and the product’s impact on the environment. Hotspots highlight areas for carbon reduction improvements and help concentrate reduction efforts in areas likely to see the greatest benefits.

5 Communicate the message

Blue Marble shares its findings in a report and can work with the client to advise on how to label the product with the PCF that’s been calculated. It can also help identify the best ways to communicate the PCF to customers, suppliers and investors.

Methodologies

To calculate a PCF, the consultancy follows the methodologies of PAS 2060 (the international standard for carbon neutrality), ISO 14067 (guidelines for the quantification and reporting of the carbon footprint of a product) and the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Product Standard.

‘The functional unit could be anything from one jumper to 1kg of yoghurt’

Raw talent

Sustainability was one of the founding pillars of Rawside, a Brixton-based commercial furniture design and manufacturing company. Co-founder Richard Gann reveals how the team cemented their carbon-savvy credentials

It was spotting a gap in the market for nonformulaic office furniture that led Richard Gann and Liz Close to establish Rawside in 2014. From a small workshop in Wandsworth, the duo began designing and manufacturing commercial furniture for small and medium sized businesses that didn’t want to conform to the identikit office set-up.

‘From inception, we were very keen to focus on sustainability,’ says Richard. ‘And still, whether we’re working on initial designs, selecting materials or in production, it’s the thread that runs through every step of our process.

‘I’d previously worked in design and was shocked at how frequently I witnessed people getting rid of furniture that was only five or ten years old. Our aim is to create items that you only need to buy once in a lifetime.’

The business grew and, in 2018, tendered and won the opportunity to be furniture supplier to multinational co-working-space provider The Office Group. Although the underdog among

those pitching for the contract, it secured the deal thanks, in part, to its solid sustainability credentials. As a result of that springboard, Rawside now has a clutch of larger clients, sells through a network of architects and suppliers, and has moved to a roomier HQ in Brixton to keep up with demand.

‘It’s important that, as we grow, we don’t lose sight of those important values upon which Rawside was founded,’ says Richard. ‘We want to feel proud of the products we sell.’

Despite sustainability always having been at the heart of the brand, the requirements of bigger clients resulted in Rawside needing to cement its eco credentials in a more formal and visible way. Following a recommendation from a friend, Richard and Liz sought the guidance of Blue Marble to help them do just that.

‘The larger organisations want you to have recognised certification,’ explains Richard. ‘As we’re always looking to improve, we also saw the process of carbon auditing as an opportunity to explore how we could become carbon neutral.

‘We really liked Blue Marble’s approach as their methodology was easy to follow. The amount of effort and admin that goes into gathering all the information could seem overwhelming, but they make the process simple and stress free.’

The Rawside team were already using offcuts to heat their factory, but one of the suggestions from Blue Marble was to make briquettes from sawdust which could be used as a heat source and also sold on. Other carbon-cutting solutions included installing solar panels, harvesting rainwater and reducing energy consumption.

‘The measurements we used to calculate our baseline carbon output identified the quick wins, which helped us make an action plan,’ says Richard. ‘That was just the beginning – we’re now working with Blue Marble to look at the carbon footprint of each of our products.’

‘Bigger clients resulted in Rawside needing to cement its eco credentials in a more formal way’

Know the jargon

Net zero Carbon neutral

Carbon footprint

Key to both terms is the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GGP) which sets out how to measure a business’ carbon footprint. Carbon is used as a generic term to represent all greenhouse gases.

‘Think of greenhouses gases in terms of currency,’ says Tim. ‘A tonne of carbon is given a value of one but other gases are far more potent. For instance, one tonne of methane has an equivalent value of 28. This potency is called global

The way a company’s carbon footprint is measured is broken down into three scopes – read more about this on page 13 – and each scope is investigated in terms of emissions.

Carbon neutral

What does it mean if an organisation is ‘carbon neutral’? There are different explanations, according to Tim, and they range from quite restricted boundaries to highly ambitious achievements.

‘You could say an organisation is carbon neutral if the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) it produces is balanced, or offset, by carbon credits,’ he explains.

‘Other definitions go further and require more greenhouse gases to be taken into account.’

The minimal way of getting to carbon-neutral status involves looking at the emissions listed in Scopes 1 and 2 and offsetting them.

However, says Tim, ‘It’s best practice to not just stop at 1 and 2, but to also include the most controllable factors in Scope 3. Once you’ve actively tried to reduce your carbon footprint, any remaining emissions can be balanced or offset by carbon credits.’

As businesses rally behind climate action, there’s much talk of reaching ‘carbon neutral’ and ‘net zero’ goals. The terms are often used interchangeably. However, explains Blue Marble’s Tim Kemp, the two mean quite different things

Carbon credits

Buying carbon credits is a way for companies to financially support projects that help reduce carbon emissions.

These projects can be anywhere in the world and include the likes of windfarms and reforestation schemes. Some reduce emissions by providing an alternative source of power such as hydro electricity generation, while others suck up existing emissions from the atmosphere using direct-air-capture technology.

‘Where carbon is not directly drawn from the atmosphere, the number of credits available to buy for each project is worked out according to a predicted baseline,’ says Tim. ‘This looks at what a project will save in terms of emissions. For example, how much gas will not be used if a hydro dam is built. The hydro company can sell the difference as credits.’

The credits should be verified and come from a registered supplier like Verified Carbon Standard (Verra) and Gold Standard. They ensure the projects are legitimate and meet scientific criteria.

Net zero

Carbon neutrality is achievable within a short time frame, but net zero is a whole other ballgame. There are various definitions but the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi) has set out a protocol for larger companies. Unlike carbon neutrality, there is a final target in terms of reduction over a baseline, which means net zero cannot be achieved immediately.

In general, organisations have to make a broader commitment when looking at the various emissions from each scope.

A short-term target of five to ten years stipulates that 95% of Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions are included in the plan. For companies with Scope 3 emissions that are 40% of their total emissions, at least 67% of those emissions should be considered.

The long-term target, which is likely to be met between 2030 and 2050, states that 90% of Scope 3 emissions are included – and that’s for all companies, not just those with more than 40% of their emissions in Scope 3.

Once this target has been met, the remaining 10% can be offset, but only through credits for projects that involve permanent removal and storage of carbon from the atmosphere.

Companies have only achieved net-zero status when they’ve completed this long-term target.

Future-proofing

‘Both carbon neutrality and net zero are about trying to do the right thing,’ says Tim.

As companies start identifying their targets, they will also find themselves looking at their suppliers to see what actions they’re taking.

‘It may seem daunting but it’s about working in a drip-feed way and completing the process over a realistic time frame. When you look ahead to 2050, you can see there is time for transition,’ says Tim.

‘Knowing the key distinctions can help a company be clear about its carbonreduction ambitions’

Insights from the

Physical oceanography

PhD student and former

Blue Marble consultant

Theo Spira reveals how his studies are helping map climate change

For Theo Spira, an appreciation for the beauty of the world’s oceans goes hand-in-hand with a passion for comprehending their littleknown dynamics in order to better understand climate change.

The PhD student is currently at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. He’s researching the ventilation of the upper layer of the ocean due to submesoscale processes and, in particular, how the movement of water impacts on the ocean’s absorption of carbon and heat.

‘Ocean dynamics aren’t well understood nor their importance to climate well known, but they’re an integral part of the climate system regulating the heat, water and gases (like carbon dioxide) in the atmosphere,’ he says.

He hopes his research will lead to a greater understanding of the Southern Ocean and that it might be included in future Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports. Critical questions he is aiming to answer include: will the Southern Ocean continue to be a heat and carbon sink? Can it continue to buffer the impact of human-induced climate change? Is there a saturation limit for the ocean’s absorption of carbon and heat?

Theo’s interest in environmentalism was fostered during his time as an consultant at Blue Marble. While there, he was instrumental in developing an algorithm to decipher the greenhouse gas emissions of the organisation’s clients.

More recently he’s taken part in a research cruise to the Southern Ocean with a team from the University of Gothenburg. This was part of the EU-funded Southern Ocean Carbon and Heat Impact on Climate project. The amazing experience only increased his wonderment at the ocean’s spectacular allure.

‘The icy continent and its surrounding ocean were surreal, serene and stunning – from the abundant and curious wildlife to the beauty of ice shelves and icebergs. It contextualised and gave me a greater appreciation for the research I’m doing, which, when working in Sweden on data from around the South Pole, can sometimes feel a little abstract.’

Read about Theo's research at theospira.com

‘The icy continent and its surrounding ocean were surreal’

Insights from the frontline