NEWS
At Clarks, sustainability has always been a key focus for us, and we have never been more resolute than we are today in operating our business in sustainable ways to further reduce our impact on the environment. Recently we cemented our resolve in this area by formulating an official pledge of our commitment.
It is generally accepted that the motor industry contributes considerably to carbon emissions, however, the SMMTs 2021 annual report showed that the automotive production and its supply chain emitted 81,095 fewer tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) than in the previous year, and that the industry has achieved an emissions reduction of more than 70% since 1999. This highlights the importance of keeping up the momentum and clearly demonstrates how crucial it is to be part of these positive changes as industry sectors work together to help the environment.
Last year we began our quest to become Carbon Neutral by 2025, looking at all aspects of the business and how we could reduce emissions. We aim to:
Our design and development teams have worked effortlessly to ensure waste is kept to an absolute minimum. Factoring in waste when completing our van conversions ensures that smarter ordering takes place by keeping transport and manufacturing activity to a minimum. In addition, we ensure that waste material is recycled or donated locally so as to reduce our overall waste production.
It is important to us that the suppliers we work with are like minded and also aim to reduce their carbon footprint. This collective approach has a huge impact when we work towards the goal of achieving the minimum footprint stated in our sustainability pledge.
We work closely with Doncaster Chamber to ensure we invest locally in young talent by providing apprenticeships and other career opportunities within the local area. Clarks continue this regional emphasis by also resolving to purchase goods locally wherever possible to minimise transport emissions and to help reduce the overall carbon footprint.
Our pledge at Clarks includes replacing any old or broken equipment with newer, greener, more efficient equipment wherever possible, which again contributes to a significant reduction of harmful emissions with a corresponding reduction in carbon footprint.
We have partnered with ‘Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’, a charitable, non-governmental organisation, working on nature conservation. We began planting trees at the beginning of 2022 and have already planted over 2000. We pledge to plant at least one tree per conversion and give customers the opportunity to match our donation. This will help to achieve and hit the government’s target of planting at least 30,000 hectares of trees by May 2024 (office for national statistics).
Sustainability is integrated across all elements of the business to ensure our carbon footprint is reduced as we aim towards our goal of being carbon neutral by 2025. Our employees are encouraged to refill and reuse plastic water bottles and be mindful of the environment. We also monitor our utilities providers, and have this year moved to a more sustainable supplier. To give added impetus, the limited number of company cars we have in the business are systematically being changed to electric vehicles (EVs) on renewal.
Together we’re working to create a sustainable future!
Read more about our Sustainability Pledge
