Sharing our sustainability plans
Developing a sustainable and conscious future are at the forefront of our business. As a team, we are committed to continually and consistently improving our business operations. This includes all aspects including sustainability, our impact on the environment, manufacturing, procurement, production and supply.
We recently added a dedicated page on our website about our sustainability practices and plans to share our actions and future plans with you. You can learn more about our commitments, view our Carbon Reduction Plan, and read some case studies.
New sustainability page
You can now find a new website page all about Interweave’s sustainability plans and previous activities. It also features our recent Carbon Reduction Plan, highlighting our company goals and timeframes.
On this page, you can also find our company commitments to sustainability. Some of these include:
- Improve sustainability throughout our business supply chain, in relation to the products we produce and supply.
- Increase our use of products and services which have a lesser impact on the natural environment; either in their production, use or disposal (energy supply, business transport, office consumables etc.)
- Actively increase the number of sustainable fabrics & products we offer to our clients, i.e. those which have a lesser impact on the natural environment, either in their production, use, or disposal.
What is a Carbon Reduction Plan?
A Carbon Reduction Plan is a strategy that is implemented by a business to reduce the amount of carbon produced by its operations. These plans aim to help organisations develop their sustainability policies, create realistic carbon reduction goals, and ensure they are aware of their environmental impact.
The UK aims to achieve “Net Zero” carbon emissions by 2050. To align with these goals, businesses like ours are working towards a more sustainable future. Developing realistic and achievable goals to reduce our carbon footprint. Read our Carbon Reduction Plan.
Our Carbon Reduction Plan
We completed our Carbon Footprint Analysis for the year end 2022, and built our first complete Carbon Reduction Plan for 2023. From this plan, we would like to share some key points with you on how we will be achieving a Net Zero future.
Near term goals
To keep ourselves on track with long-term targets, we have set the following goals:
- Reduce our Scope 1 & 2 emissions to zero by 2023.
- Reduce our Scope 3 emissions by 20% from our baseline year by 2026.
- Reduce our Scope 3 emissions by 30% from our baseline year by 2030.
Completed carbon reduction initiatives
As a company, we have already carried out several activities and initiatives to reduce our carbon footprint. These activities were:
- Appointed Positive Planet to support with calculating baseline carbon footprint and reduction recommendations.
- Created a Green Team to lead initiatives, consisting of staff members from different departments to support the roll out of initiatives and management of data.
- Replacement of 30,000 sq. ft. roof at the Elland warehouse to reduce energy transfer.
- Installation of 102 solar panels at the Elland warehouse facility.
- Hull facility moved to a smaller unit, to increase efficiency of space usage and reduce energy consumption.
- Resizing of products purchased abroad to allow the more efficient use of shipping container space.
Scope 1 & 2 reduction plans
What are Scope 1 emissions? They are direct greenhouse gas emissions that occur from sources owned or controlled by a company, such as emissions from combustion of fuels in on-site boilers, furnaces, or vehicles.
What are Scope 2 emissions? They are indirect greenhouse gas emissions that result from the generation of purchased electricity, steam or other forms of energy consumed by a company.
Here are some of our reduction plans for scope 1 & 2 emissions:
- Consider replacing the existing gas boiler system at all locations with heat pump technology.
- Procure a 100% renewable electricity tariff at all sites.
- Consider low-cost options such as reducing the boiler temperature and adding heat & solar control reflective window sheets.
- Implement energy efficient measures to reduce the overall amount of electricity consumed at sites.
NHS Net Zero
Like many other organisations, the NHS is committed to their own Net Zero goal. Their aim is to be the world’s first net zero national health service. They have two set targets:
- For the emissions we control directly (the NHS Carbon Footprint), we will reach Net Zero by 2040, with an ambition to reach an 80% reduction by 2028 to 2032.
- For the emissions we can influence (our NHS Carbon Footprint Plus), we will reach Net Zero by 2045, with an ambition to reach an 80% reduction by 2036 to 2039.
As suppliers to the NHS, we support their journey to Net Zero. Alongside our own goals, we aim to support the NHS Net Zero goals where possible. Sustainability and carbon reduction is a responsibility shared by all, and by working together, we can achieve more. Read more about NHS Net Zero.
Case studies
In 2023, we took part in different sustainability activities to progress our carbon reduction plan. One of these activities was installing solar panels at our warehouse facility in Elland, West Yorkshire. The other was a CO2 reduction in our hospital socks manufacturing process. Learn more about these projects.
Installing solar panels
Renewable energy is a growing choice for organisations. Solar energy in particular is reliable and powerful, ensuring our energy needs are met and customers receive their orders without disruption. Not only did we install solar panels, we also replaced a large part of the roof at our warehouse.
We have replaced 30,000 sq ft of the warehouse roof structure, replacing the oldest roofing material with modern, 80mm composite insulated panels. This will reduce our overall energy requirements significantly, minimises heat loss and improving the natural light of the building.
A simulation of how solar panels would work at the facility was carried out. The results found that 8.17 tons of CO2 emissions were saved. The equivalent of 275 trees being planted! Read more.
CO2 reduction in slipper socks manufacturing process
Back in 2023, our contracted mill reviewed their processes and determined they could make noticeable reductions in emissions without compromising on the quality of non-slip hospital socks.
Reducing emissions in manufacturing is a significant effort, and plays a huge role in overall CO2 reduction for an organisation.
They accomplished several reductions across different areas, they were as follows:
Coal usage down 40% since 2020, Power consumption down by 15%, Steam consumption down by 40%, Water consumption down by 25%, Recycled water use now 80% from 69%, Total CO2 emissions down by 47%. Read more about reducing CO2 emissions.
A sustainable future
Our team are passionate about our sustainability plans. We are looking forward to carrying out our Carbon Reduction Plan, and seeing the positive changes we can make to our community and environment. We hope you enjoyed reading about our sustainability plans, and learned something new about us.
Are you are interested in more topics like this? Then we recommend these articles: Interweave installs solar panels | CO2 reduction in slipper socks manufacturing process | 2023 at Interweave: A review.
