The Legal Stuff

Environmental Policy

  1. Introduction

    We are serious about taking responsibility for our impact on the environment and have designed our business to minimise them from the outset. This includes making the most of flexible working opportunities and eliminating as much printing as possible.

    We use remote working, have minimised travel for business, provide a Ride to Work scheme and we’re working on understanding our carbon footprint for our office and remote services.

  2. Environmental Management System (EMS)

    To further support this we are implementing an ISO 14001 Environmental Management System (EMS) to ensure that we protect the environment, prevent pollution and fulfil our compliance obligations around our environmental impact. We strive for continual improvement of the EMS to further enhance our environmental performance.

    Our Environmental Policy provides the framework for setting environmental objectives and targets. The EMS involves all staff and is monitored by the Leadership Team. This policy and our achievements will be communicated to parties interested in our EMS performance.

    Our main environmental objectives are to:

    • Minimise our greenhouse gas emissions and offset our unavoidable emissions
    • Reduce our energy consumption, improving energy and water efficiency
    • Reduce the impact of our transport, by reducing the need to travel and then choosing alternative transport options where feasible
    • Minimise our waste and increase recycling where possible
    • Develop a Procurement Policy to encourage the use of materials, products and services with a lower environmental impact
    • Work with our customers, suppliers, landlord and other contacts to understand their own environmental impacts and assist them to make improvements

  3. Carbon capture and offsetting

    Whilst we do everything we can to reduce our carbon footprint we also recognise that a level of emission production is inevitable and unavoidable. To this end we have signed up to a tree planting scheme managed by our carbon capture partners Ecologi. Through this scheme we offset more carbon than we produce and increase our investment every time we take on a new team member. Using the Ecologi service we have been a carbon negative / climate positive workforce since 2019.

    More detail around our carbon capture program and the Kyan Ecologi forest can be seen at https://ecologi.com/kyan

  4. Energy saving

    Throughout the building lighting is by fluorescent tubes and energy-efficient fittings. Our office is fitted with automatic light detectors, therefore reducing our electricity usage.

  5. Transport

    We encourage staff to use public transport whenever possible, so a majority of our business journeys are made by train. Our office is located ten minutes’ walk from two mainline railway stations.

    We offer team members the chance to join our Ride to Work scheme which enables staff to purchase a bike before tax and NI and split the cost over multiple months.

    We encourage the use of video conferencing and instant messaging with colleagues and clients, to reduce the need for travel. Avoiding unnecessary journeys improves our efficiency, as well as reducing carbon emissions.

  6. Recycling and reducing waste

    We work on a digital-first basis to eliminate unnecessary printing, copies or documentation, making communications more efficient, eliminating paper and ink use as much as possible.

    We are actively reviewing our recycling efforts and improving them where possible. Currently the landlord only offers separated cardboard recycling, which we take full advantage of, all other waste is sorted and separated for recycling at the waste plant.

    We minimise hazardous waste by using rechargeable batteries, as well as reusing and repairing IT equipment.

  7. Working from home

    Staff are empowered to work from home as is appropriate to their roles and we offer assistance to help reduce environmental impact when working from home. Primarily we provide energy-efficient IT equipment, and advise on eco-friendly suppliers for office supplies etc Staff rarely need to print documents at home, and eco-friendly office supplies are provided by the company.

    All members of the team are provided with free access to the Giki Zero app (https://zero.giki.earth) which provides practical advice on developing a more sustainable lifestyle, including saving energy and water, low impact purchasing and healthy eating.