Hoarding solutions specialist Plasloc has achieved carbon neutral status for offsetting its greenhouse gas emissions associated with its operations in the 2019 calendar year.
The Newton Abbot-based family business, which specialises in supplying unique hoarding solutions for major infrastructure and construction projects, worked with the Plannet Zero Initiative to achieve the certification.
Conducting a comprehensive review of its business emissions, Plasloc analysed heating, diesel, and electricity usage, as well as water, waste, and employee travel to and from work.
It then purchased 176t CO2e of verified carbon credits to rebalance the organisation’s operational greenhouse gas emissions for 2019.
Those credits are supporting the Tambopatu-Bahuaja Biodiversity Reserve project in Peru and the Borusan EnBW Enerji Wind Farm project in Turkey.
‘Ahead of the game’
Plasloc director Leigh Matthews said: “The construction sector is one of the largest producers of emissions and, given the strong green ethos of the business, we are delighted Plasloc is now certified operational carbon neutral.
“There is a huge national drive on becoming carbon neutral going forward for businesses, and we wanted to be ahead of the game, as we noticed none of our competitors are certified.
“As 2020 was a disrupted due to the pandemic, resulting in lower operational emissions, we thought 2019 would be a good starting point and, while it took slightly longer than anticipated to collate our footprint, we’re there now and it shows that Plasloc is the right company to choose.”
Plasloc’s sustainability drive started in 2010, with the development of its patented plastic external and internal hoarding as an environmentally friendly alternative to standard building materials.
Operating on a hire basis to maintain a zero-waste policy, all products are sent for recycling at the end of their life and extruded back into the next generation of Plasloc, with the company donating all funds received from that process to the charity Just One Ocean.
Matthews added: “Achieving carbon neutrality shows our ongoing commitment to the environment but while we celebrate this important milestone, we also recognise that this is just the first step on a much longer journey to reduce our carbon footprint as much as we can.
“We will continue to take further measures to reduce our carbon footprint and offset it to ensure we continue to have a positive impact on the environment.”
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