Sustainability.
The Road to Net-Zero
The FW Thorpe Group of companies has been officially recognised as being carbon neutral*, with systems of reduction, measurement and certified offsetting in place, since 2012. Third party assessment provides independent assurance of the Group’s long-standing commitment to sustainability across all of its operations worldwide. Being carbon neutral means that FW Thorpe Plc offsets the carbon dioxide emissions it generates (scopes 1 and 2 of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol) by its business activities.
FW Thorpe Plc is a carbon neutral company through a combination of measures. Company-wide initiatives such as energy use minimisation, self-generation of renewable energy through solar photovoltaic (PV) units, and procurement of renewable energy have reduced the Group’s carbon footprint, whilst trees in the Group’s award-winning carbon offsetting afforestation project absorb the remaining carbon dioxide produced.
The goal is ultimately to reach net-zero in 2040, ten years before the UK’s target for achieving net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050.
In 2022, FW Thorpe initiated a robust data collection process to calculate its full carbon footprint, extended to include upstream and downstream activities – for example those throughout its supplier and customer relationships. The Group’s carbon emission reduction plan is aligned with the Paris Agreement 1.5°C scenario (reactive) and its full Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions for the 2021 base year, 2022, and the current financial year 2023 have been calculated.
*Group companies acquired since 2012 have been assessed only since their date of acquisition.
Emission reduction targets
FW Thorpe has set and submitted the following Science aligned targets for validation by the Science Based Targets Initiative:
- Reduce absolute Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 42% by 2030, from a 2021 base year on a market-based approach.
- Reduce Scope 3 emissions per £m revenue by 51.6% by 2030, from a 2021 base year.
- Reduce Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions by 90% by 2040 from a 2021 base year, in line with reaching net-zero with a maximum of 10% of emissions being offset.
Carbon offsetting
In 2009, FW Thorpe Plc purchased 215 acres of farmland in Wales. To date, 179,412 trees have been planted for carbon sequestration. Based on the Group’s calculated emissions, it has been confirmed that enough trees have been planted for FW Thorpe Plc to have been carbon neutral since 2012.
The carbon capture tree-planting scheme (quality-assured by the government-backed Woodland Carbon Code) is independently certified to ISO 14064-3 and ISO 14065 standards. The Woodland Carbon Code is an independent standard, devised by a group led by the UK Forestry Commission, to certify that woodland creation projects can accurately measure how much carbon is captured and stored.
FW Thorpe has completed its woodland creation project in Devauden, Wales and has recently purchased a further 195 acres of land in Herefordshire. The land has significant potential for connecting existing woodlands for biodiversity and landscape enhancement and the transition from grazing sheep to woodland creation will have little to no impact on food security.
www.woodlandcarboncode.org.uk
Past Chairman of FW Thorpe Andrew Thorpe plants the first tree.
FW Thorpe carbon offsetting scheme in Devauden, Wales.
The final tree was planted by retiring FW Thorpe Group Director David Taylor, pictured above left with FW Thorpe Group Chairman Michael Allcock.
Renewable electricity generation
The Group has installed solar PV units on the roofs of all its UK manufacturing facilities (excluding Philip Payne), as well as at Lightronics and Famostar in the Netherlands and Zemper in Spain. These solar PV units will further reduce consumption from traditional electricity sources, enabling the Group to generate 40–50% of its own electricity usage.
All remaining significant electricity consumption in the UK and Netherlands is now derived from renewable sources.
Year projection of 12,000 tonnes CO₂e avoided by the use of solar panels
Based on 2022 conversion factors
Year projection of 50,000,000 kWh of electricity produced from solar panels
Tonnes CO₂e avoided per annum by the use of solar panels
Estimated average
kWh electricity production capability per annum from solar panels
Group company targets
- All Group companies have now been certified to the international standards ISO 14001 (Environmental Management Systems), ISO 45001 (Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems) and ISO 9001 (Quality Management Systems).
- The Group has installed solar PV units on the roofs of most of its UK manufacturing facilities, as well as at Lightronics and Famostar in the Netherlands and Zemper in Spain. In the UK and Netherlands the remaining electrical energy from the grid is now 100% from renewable electricity and 74% in Spain.
- All Group companies are required to meet ambitious targets to reduce waste to landfill.
- New product design is to follow an FW Thorpe Plc agreed Circular Design Strategy, ensuring products last even longer, use sustainable materials in their construction and are easier to reuse, refurbish or recycle at the end of their lifetime.
- All Group companies to produce Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for their best-selling product ranges and to evaluate the Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) generated to assess and improve product performance.
- All Group delivery vehicles are to be a minimum of Euro 6 compliant.
- All Group companies to review their manufacturing processes and develop plans to reduce energy usage.
- The majority of Group companies have electric vehicle (EV) charging stations at the workplace.
- All Group companies to evaluate emissions from business travel and actively find ways to reduce it, without impacting business performance.
- All Group companies will target zero plastic bag and zero bubble wrap usage in its factories and aim to reach zero single-use plastic from the supply chain.
- All finished goods packaging is to be supplied from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) or equivalent sources. Group companies will offer a return and reuse service for product packaging.
- All Group employees are to be trained in environmental initiatives.
- All Group companies to appoint a Sustainability Champion and to have a written sustainability plan.
Chairman’s Comment
“FW Thorpe Plc has a longstanding commitment to helping tackle global environmental challenges, principally through its core business of manufacturing energy efficient lighting equipment. The company has a genuine desire to become a more sustainable business.
The carbon capture tree-planting scheme (quality-assured by the government-backed Woodland Carbon Code) is independently certified to ISO 14064-3 and ISO 14065 standards. The Woodland Carbon Code is an independent standard, devised by a group led by the UK Forestry Commission, to certify that woodland creation projects can accurately measure how much carbon is captured and stored.
But our work doesn’t stop here. By assessing our carbon impact right across our value chain, and then setting science-based targets in line with the Paris Agreement on climate change, our goal is to further and significantly reduce our impact by the near term target of 2030 followed by ultimately reaching net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) status by 2040, well before the UK’s target for achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.”
Mike Allcock
FW Thorpe Group Chairman