26. Definition of a Sustainable Business A sustainable business is a successful and profitable business It is one that continuously improves its productivity by taking action on the economic , social and environmental impacts of its business
My name is Anna Frizzell and I am the Environmental Advisor for BL Dorset I am one of 11 advisors delivering the ERDF & RDA funded IYRE service across the SW region. I have worked for business link in a sustainable business capacity for over 12 years and have a BSC Hons degree in Environmental Protection
The best way to tackle the future business environmental and social requirements is to concentrate on becoming a “Sustainable Business”. I am going to start with what I think is a good def of a Sust biz. . Success and profit are not dirty words. But it is no longer profit at any cost. You need to be able not only to say but to demonstrate that you have good env’ credentials.
What are the drivers Drivers for moving towards being a sust biz? The cost drivers are designed to encourage businesses to use less and make more from less i.e. don’t be wasteful be efficient and stop wasting money, and to design products and services that don’t need lots of stuff / energy to make them work. e.g if a biz saves £100 on energy it goes straight to the bottom line On the other side cost benefits from improvements in efficiency and tax breaks and grants etc help to encourage positive choices which reduce environmental damage, costs and liability and build profits in a sustainable way. Know and manage env impacts less likely to get caught by surprise. Mitigating risks can also lower costs Customers are looking for good SB credentials. e.g. public procurement must have at least and Env policy which we can help with, big retailers i.e. Tesco CO2 figs, M&S / Waitrose suppliers ethical management / packaging reduction/ air miles reduced, local suppliers etc. There are New opps in marketing– By improving their image and differentiating themselves from / keeping up with competitors. Know and meet your customer needs. Political – Govt has signed up to EU reduction targets for energy and waste and all parties increasingly wanting to have good green credentials. CSR will play a bigger and bigger part in decision making and planning e.g. Sustainable procurement policy and Low Carbon Transition plan. Some EU countries are even banning inefficient equipment e.g. only A rated or above. Legal – Ever increasing producer responsibility and polluter pays. Low Carbon Transition Plan, CRC, CCL, etc moving us towards all knowing and reporting our carbon emissions. .
.How do you work out where your impact is and how big and costly is it ? i.e. where are your priorities, your opportunities and risks? The six key environmental areas that every business needs to tackle are listed here.
ENERGY Many business I meet have no idea how much they use and /or spend on energy. It is rarely calculated as a cost per product or per employee / per contract / per service and is just absorbed almost as a hidden cost. If you don’t measure and monitor it you are unlikely to be as efficient as you could be or be aware of how much this cost is increasing. One £1.5 Mill t/o co said £35K/annum we looked it was nearer £70K are you sure yours isn’t costing more than you think? Did you know there are tax breaks and Govt funded interest free loans for buying energy efficient kit? You need to know What you pay / unit and how much energy you use, What your emissions are as a result (part of footprint), What efficiency measures / renewable technologies would be cost effective. What tax breaks / grants / loans you can get to help. WASTE L’fill tax is £40/ tonne increasing by £8/tonne each year to 2013 and in just a few years we will run out of L’fill space. Tories talk of setting minimum floor of £72/tonne to 2020. Finance Bill 2010 will also make L’fill tax changes and Increase tax for some materials. Again most business have no idea how much they throw away or the true cost. For example - the cost of buying the material e.g. paper, the cost of doing an activity on it e.g. printing, the cost of storage/ filing, the cost of cleaners emptying the bin when you throw it away (If you have them) then the cost of removal for disposal. Real cost is often 4 times the cost of disposal alone. Recycling is good but we need to be eliminating, reducing and reusing more before we turn to recycling for what is left and only dispose when no other viable alternative exists and design products and services with this in mind. Also think about the waste you are passing onto your customers, catalogues, product at end of life, the need for lots of reports / paper work which is ultimately thrown away, is there a better way of doing it? Budget 2009 announces that the standard rate of landfill tax will increase by £8 per tonne on 1 April each year from 2011 to 2013,. Budget 2009 also announces that the lower rate, applying to inactive wastes will be frozen at £2.50 per tonne for 2010-11. (HM Treasury)
Water – If there are approx 60,000 biz in Hants & IOW and each saves 1 Ltr water per day we would save nearly 22 million ltrs of water a year That is huge !! You may be small but you can still have a big impact. Costs of water in and out are increasing. Even if you are not affected by flooding or drought / snow are your suppliers? Your customers? Are you properly insured and do you have continuity plans in place? Did you know there are tax breaks for buying water efficient kit? LEGISLATION Producer responsibility is increasing e.g. electronic industry - WEEE and EUP. Responsible for product after you have sold it. Driving changes such as “Design for disassembly” Also opportunities e.g WEEE drove growth of ICT recycling Biz. You can’t think that env leg doesn’t apply to SMEs it does!! Need a register and need to check compliance regularly. There are tools to help you.
Transport . Emissions by cars and lorries are a big headache for the government and population growth is only going to make it worse. Global markets just send emissions literally skyrocketing. You need to be thinking about how people get to and from work and how they move around to do their jobs, How your stuff gets to your customers and your suppliers get their stuff to you. Part of Carbon Footprint. Probably BL’s biggest impact. Resources This is key to continued biz growth. If the resource you use is getting scarce /expensive you need to be planning alternatives. There may also be opportunities if what you do or produce solves a resource problem. Design of products for disassembly is key and designing out hazardous materials is paramount. Skills development for future needs is also important. We have lots of companies selling solar units but how many plumbers are trained in how to maintain them ? If you understand your customers environmental threats too you can see where you can sell in products and services that satisfy their needs.
Highlight some sources of help to get you started.
Front page of web site Free, impartial, guides, tools and advice. If you want to build your own EMS Envirowise can help. Link to EMS Publications Wizard
Series of Questions - select what you are interested in and it will produce a personalised PDF containing all the relevant guides you will need. E.g. How to do an Env review, how to write an Env policy, how to make a register of legislation etc etc.
Free, impartial, guides, tools and advice. Carbon footprint info includes a Carbon calculator and other guides to get you started
This is a new online training tool split into 6 quick modules which can help guide you through energy efficiency planning and the actions needed It has checklists and 5 min vid clips to help you through. Well worth looking at as it has been developed around the SME workshops Top tabs - ‘Cut Carbon & Reduce Costs’ then ‘Our services’ – ‘on line training tool’
Can order free posters and stickers to help you get started.
Front page – EA site on Env leg for biz. Can choose specific sector or Management guidelines or go straight to legislation if you know what you want. Explains essence of the leg and gives links to drill down to more detail and to copies of the legislation itself. Find recyclers & waste cos – authorised. Register for FREE e alerts
BL Home page – Environment & Efficiency On right BL assess env compliance tool. – CONFIDENTIAL.
Tools and guides to help you identify where you can save money by going green.
Guides to help you assess and communicate your env credentials.
I delver the ERDF & RDA funded IYRE service for Dorset ‘ Growth Companies’ can get 15 hours worth of RE support from me over a 12 month period For those companies who qualify there is also a small amount of funding of last resort available for consultancy/ specialist support and for capital investment. Interested businesses should contact business link via our normal tel & email channels Those biz that don’t qualify for IYRE can get 121 RE support from our general business advisors.
Thank you for listening and good luck with getting those public sector contracts !!