Three ways Multifix is serious about sustainability
As the days, months and years go by, the need for companies to be more energy-efficient and sustainable continues to grow.
After all, if every company actively tries to have more sustainable measures, that can only be a good thing for the planet, right?
It’s certainly something we believe at Multifix as we have actively tried to be more responsible with how we operate.
Even things like our LED motion-activated lighting, which turns off automatically if there’s no movement for a time, play a part.
You may be wondering why this is important to you, but it can be a good thing for your ESG, too. For those unaware, ESG is a framework that stands for environmental, social and governance.
Construction companies in the UK are judged on their ESG and those with net zero claims are judged on their output.
As such, using a more sustainable company is a huge boost for you as a customer.
However, we have a few things that we do with one eye firmly on our sustainability as we constantly look for ways to be net zero.
While we are far from perfect, we believe these three things in particular prove that we are taking sustainability seriously.
Our packaging
To drastically reduce our use of single-use plastic, we have made it mandatory that all our deliveries are sent in cardboard packaging.
While we know that paper/cardboard comes from trees, trees are regenerative, so it’s the most ecological way of carrying your goods.
This packaging can also be recycled, which is also helpful.
Single-use plastic, as well as being non-biodegradable, frequently ends up in oceans or waterways and that can harm wildlife.
As well as that, even creating single-use plastic adds to greenhouse emissions due to what is needed to make it, so we’re happy to not use it.
When it comes to pallets, it’s a slightly different story, but we still try and do what we can. All of our shrink wrapping is recyclable and we have a robot that wraps the pallets themselves.
The robot stretches the shrink wrap to the perfect point, which gives us maximum efficiency. It also stops the customer from having too much and cuts down our waste as we’re only using the correct amount.
The materials that bring the shrink wrap to our warehouse are also recycled. Again, if you’re looking to go net zero, actions like this will indirectly help you.
We’ve installed air-source heat pumps
Instead of having a gas or electric heating system, we have installed air-source heat pumps at our main office in Maidstone, Kent.
Compared to traditional heating systems, air-source heat pumps are much more environmentally sound. That’s because they use air as their heat source instead of fossil fuels, so there are no greenhouse gas emissions.
For those wondering how they work, the heat pumps extract outside air and use that to generate heat. This works even in the harsh winter, so it’s an all-year-round solution.
Out of all the things we do to try and achieve net zero, having air-source heat pumps is perhaps one of the most innovative ways to do so.
Considering the environment with our vans
This is perhaps the hardest one to try and manage given the need for fuel, but we still make an effort to cut our carbon footprint with our vans.
All of our routes are mapped carefully so that we only use the fuel that we need, thus avoiding any unnecessary journeys. For example, we won’t have a driver doing a triangle trip of Bristol, Norwich and then Romford.
In addition, our FORS Silver accredited vans are all Euro 6 compliant. Euro 6 is a regulation that comes with an emissions limit, requiring engine gases to be treated before being released through the exhaust.
When acquiring our fleet of vans, this was something that was considered before every purchase, as we try and limit our carbon footprint.
Also, the cars our sales fleet have are all hybrid or electric. We also have electric charging points at our head office.
A sustainable future
As mentioned earlier, we know that we aren’t perfect. There is more we can do and we are always looking into ways we can be more sustainable.
One example of something we have an eye on is the emergence of electric-powered vans. While we aren’t in a position to utilise them just now, it’s something definitely on our radar.
Ultimately, if every company sticks to the ethos of being greener and more sustainable, it can only benefit all of us.
If you would like any further information on how we’re trying to be more sustainable at Multifix, you can get in touch with us here. Equally, you can see our sustainability pledges here.