The Road to Carbon Zero

''Being aware of our impact on the environment, locally, and its global impact is something all businesses cannot ignore. I see that there are two sound reasons for this. Firstly, it's the UK Governments target to reduce our CO2 emissions. So far, I see this 'plan', if there is one, as ineffective and lacking direction (for instance, have you seen anything by the Government about how they are going achieve this?) Which can only lead you to think that the objective of the Government is to force the issue by taxation. Secondly, we must personally commit as business owners to doing what's right for future generations, for those people around the world who are suffering because of the effects of our warming climate.

The conclusion, when you look ahead, is that Government will force this one way or another. My advice is to take action now, develop a plan, invest in the plan in small incremental steps, get ahead of the curve.''
-Mat Lynds, Rejus Director

This page aims to detail our efforts for social responsibility so far, and our plans to become even more sustainable in the near future....

Rejus have achieved net zero on scope 1 and 2 of our operations and are on a road to being fully sustainable. We have gone as far as we can whilst investing approx £50k into improving energy efficiency at our head office.  We are now offsetting the carbon usage we cannot commercially reduce to zero. 

Learn about the changes we've made, and how we hope to inspire other businesses, local and national, to make steps in the right direction. We've already helped many of our clients over the years upgrade to more sustainable lighting (LED lamp upgrades), set up a recycling plan and system, and supplied many with our range of environmentally friendly products. To understand the why, we need to look at what exactly CSR and ESG is in the world of business.

Contents

What is Sustainability?

What is Corporate Social Responsibility?

What is ESG Investing?

What is the Difference Between ESG and CSR?

Rejus on the Road to Net Zero

The Journey so Far

What Next for Rejus?

How Can We Help You?

Enquire Now

TERMINOLOGY

 

What is Sustainaiblity?

Sustainability in the world of business is about meeting the needs of the company without compromising the planet or taking more than necessary.

Sustainability is about giving back when taking. We aim to have an environmentally friendly approach to all business practices, from the equipment we use, to transportation to the products used in our cleaning services.

Sustainability can be implemented at every level of company operations, from distribution to the head office. The pillars of sustainability are the environment, the economy, and society. You have to consider how these areas work together for your business, and how do the actions or lack of action from your business impact these areas.

Being more sustainability can benefit your company and the local community in a number of ways. Read on to understand the impact that can be made. 

recycling logo

What steps can your company make?

 

What is Corportate Social Responsbilty (CSR)?

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a program and business-wide pledge analysing and improving business practices. This form of self-reflection helps a company be socially accountable for its sustainable or non-sustainable practices.

A company being more sustainable is being more environmentally conscious with its practices and products.

CSR is about the relationship between the company, the stakeholders, and the public. By practicing corporate social responsibility, companies can be conscious of the kind of impact they're having on all aspects of society, including economic, social, and environmental.

CSR is a business model by which companies make a concerted effort to operate in ways that enhance rather than take away society and the environment. Projects such as local tree planting or solar conversions are examples of positive community impact.  

What does this mean for my company?

 
As it does for Rejus, this is a great opportunity to demonstrate how you're giving back to the environment and society and the little and large changes you're making to improve your business' relationship with the planet.
 
Enviromental responsibility can save you money by making smart upgrades, help you implement projects to raise company morale, and overall promote a positive impact on the evironment.

CSRs can be broken into four categories:

  • Environmental impact
  • Ethical responsibility
  • Philanthropic endeavours
  • Financial responsibilities 

 

What Is Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Investing?

The abbreviation ESG describes different methods of responsible and sustainable investing. These are the above mentioned environmental, social, and governance fields. 

It's a way of mesauring and encouraging positive impact from your company.

ESG is about business issues and their related performance measures , which impact the operational and financial performance of a company based on how material they are. This is of course relative to the contact company (i.e. industry, location, size, business model, and competition).

Some examples of ESG issues include;

  • Carbon footrpint.
  • Ethical business practices.
  • Staff morale.
  • Compliance.

At Rejus we've been helping companies remain compliant for decades and begun the switch to more sustainable practices years ago (read below!), so every step to improve our overall ESG feels like the natural progression.

Ongoing tree planting

Ongoing Tree Planting Works 

  

What is the difference between ESG and CSR?

A fair question when all these acronyms and terminology is in the mix. Hopefully this page has at least in part served in being a jargon buster.
 
A company can in fact run ESG and CSR programs at the same time, treat seperately and with different aims. This is because ESGs are more likely to be about data and investments. CSRs are more likely to be company practices, behaviour, and equipment/supplies.
 
One way to look at the two terminology is who the business model is supposed to engage with. ESG investments are becomoing increasingly data-driven, with the main goal of reporting is often to satisfy the information requirements of capital providers and key stakeholders.
 
On the other hand, CSR activities are often designed to engage employees, and helps you to build a positive reputation between your company and the community. Rejus has already been proud to give back to our local community, so engaging in social responsibility has been far from a stretch got us.
 
We're proud to build lasting relationships with our clients, and you can see how ESGs and CSRs can both help to foster a more positive partnership overall. Consider how this can help you and your business.
  
Sustainability is found in the day-to-day of your CSR progragms, while ESG investments are long term projects where results are data driven.
 
Both apporaches can help you reach carbon net zero.
 
 

Let's take a look at how Corporate Social Responsiblity is helping Rejus on the road to reaching carbon nuetrality...

 

Rejus on the Road to Net Zero

One of the best business decions we've made was to install solar panels on the roof of our head office at Fitzwilliam House. Not only has this saved the company money on electricity, it set us on this brilliant path to reaching carbon nuetrality and giving back in the form of sustainability projects.

Chapter 1

 

Rejus Carbon Zero Journey

The Journey So Far

When something is constantly discussed in the media for years and years, it’s hard to distance yourself from your initial mindset, the situation you were in then.

You might think “that’s great, but I need to earn money and finish this job now to feed my kids”. Ultimately, this is all about a mindset change made by taking small steps, improving our knowledge, and seeing the positive impact of our actions. Collectively, we need to embrace this now for two reasons.  Commercially it’s going to get increasingly expensive to do nothing, and ethically, it’s the right thing to do.

However, whenever I set time aside to research this issue, qustions were raised about how to make a real difference. I’ve written this only to share our experience.

We are pretty good at energy efficiency for buildings, including our own, and we have put in the work to ensure we’re being environmentally conscious with our equipment, waste, purchasing and cleaning products. It’s a huge subject, and may seem initially difficult, but it does not need to be.

Our first real step in this direction was the implementation of solar panels on the roof of Fitzwilliam House, Rejus head office.

Read More

 

Chapter 2

 

Road to net zero chapter 2

What Next for Rejus?

We realised that to achieve our carbon neutral status, and having achieved near zero from our internal office operations and Head Office, this left 30 tonnes of carbon generated by our essential vehicle movements… what next?

Commercially electric vans are just not viable. Expensive, plus an infrastructure that isn’t quite up to the job yet. Despite having EV chargers installed, the costs just don’t work. We are fully behind electric vehicles and look forward to fully embracing them when issues such as battery manufacture, and infrastructure are resolved.

We have now got all vehicles movements planned and tracked to ensure efficient use of fuel, which we are starting to see a reduction in fuel, saves money too! We are offering Teams or Zoom where practical to normal business operations, albeit we are firmly of the belief that face-to-face interaction for Rejus staff is essential and our strength.

This leaves us then with the opportunity of carbon off setting to achieve Net Zero. There are many, many options out there, and undoubtedly there are many preferences, mostly subjective, about how you achieve this. We carefully selected our partner and went with Highland Carbon.

Read More

 

How Can Rejus Help You?

Interested in becoming more sustainable? Here's a selection of the services we offer that will set you on the right track.

 

Waste Management

Waste management

Get in touch today to discuss the right waste management and recyiclng solutions for your business. This is one of the easiest first steps to going green.

LEARN MORE

Sustainable Cleaning Products

Cleaning Products

Eco-friendly products that are both highly efficient and sustainable. View a selection of our range, from floor cleaners to detergent.

LEARN MORE

Upgrade to LED

Building Upgrades

Upgrading lights to LED, improving insulation, and being more efficient with our boiler are ways of being sustainable and saving money.

Learn MORE

 

 GET IN TOUCH WITH ONE OUR TEAM TODAY TO LEARN MORE

 

All images on this page are licensed via Canva under creative commons

Sectors we work within

  • AVIATION, AIRPORTS, TRANSPORT
  • COMMERCIAL
  • CONSTRUCTION
  • ECCLESIASTICAL
  • EDUCATION
  • HEALTHCARE
  • INDUSTRIAL
  • RETAIL
  • SPORTS & LEISURE