Waste
As a leading national supplier of building materials and associated products it is paramount that Grafton strives to reduce waste going to landfill while increasing levels of recycling.
To this end Grafton has a national deal in place with Biffa, the leading mixed waste management company in the UK, to help us reduce the volume of waste we send to landfill. Grafton have dedicated recycling bins at most of our locations, which has led to our recycling rates achieving an all-time high in our business.
Future work with Biffa will allow Grafton to increase this recycling rate still further to achieve our long term aim of zero waste to landfill.
As part of its commitment to environmental issues, Grafton Merchanting GB is registered as a stakeholder in the government’s Carbon Reduction Commitment. GMGB has now been awarded the Carbon Trust Standard.
Our pro-active HSQ&E department and the Grafton Merchanting Environmental Focus Group are constantly striving to reduce our carbon footprint and improve our performance in other environmental areas.
Our direct carbon footprint for 2009 was 38,801 tonnes. In 2010 it was 37,648 tonnes. We have set ourselves a target to reduce carbon emissions by 3% a year. Our tonnes of emissions per £m reduced by 6% from 2009 to 2010.
The energy consumption in our buildings accounts for 35% of our carbon footprint. We will have automatic metres in all of our premises, which will help us manage our energy usage more accurately.
Our GMGB purchasing team always look to minimise our packaging whenever we can, as long as it doesn’t compromise safety and quality; we reuse as much of it as we can, but it is inevitable that some will end up with our customers. We regularly monitor the amount of packaging waste we produce each year through our links with Biffpack a recognised compliance scheme.