In recent years there has been a substantial increase in public concern on environmental issues. As a responsible employer Flight Logistics Group Ltd takes its corporate responsibilities very seriously and our Environmental Management Policy is integral to our ethos and business practice.

SME Climate Commitment (SME Climate Hub)

We have signed up to the SME Climate Commitment via the SME Climate Hub. We operate in a notoriously carbon heavy industry and we already have a robust CSR policy (see below) and refuse to greenwash – our policy is entirely about the practical undertakings we make every single day.

Joining the SME Climate Commitment will give us access to a support network to further reduce our carbon footprint in line with the targets and mitigate our impact on the planet.

We can all make a difference, no person or company is too small to have an effect and we urge clients and followers to join us by pledging your commitment here: https://smeclimatehub.org

Continuous Improvement

We are committed to the continual improvement of our policy and strive to reduce the impact we have on our environment.

Monitoring

We continually monitor our progress and review environmental performance on a regular basis (annually).

Compliance and Legislation

Flight Logistics Group Ltd complies with all current legislation as a minimum level of performance, aiming to exceed this wherever possible.

Education, Encouragement and Training

As part of our induction programme all new members of staff are required to have an understanding of our environmental policy and if deemed necessary to attend local training schemes. Employees are encouraged to consider their travel arrangements through lift sharing schemes, use of public transport, and walking/cycling to and from work. We have removed hot drink vending machines and thus eliminated the use of plastic cups at all our sites.

Water and Energy

Through the use of various education and training programs we are committed to reducing the amount of water and energy used in the daily running of our business. Energy- efficient solutions are encouraged within the group. Office refurbishment and repairs are made in accordance with environmental legislation at all sites. This includes the use of energy saving light and heat systems.

June 2023 Update:

We have completed a huge reduction in our corporate carbon footprint by moving to cloud storage for all our IT and network provision. We have now closed our 2 server rooms (one at each site, Wokingham and Heathrow). The IT hourly energy use of 5.7758 kwh translates to a saving of 1.1169242 kgCO2e per hour, or 26.8061808 kgCO2e per day and a massive 9,784.25599 kgCO2e per year! (Using The Carbon Trust energy conversion calculator). The aircon systems have also been shut down which means a further saving of 4,336.66 kgCO2e per year.  In total we have saved a whopping 14,120.92 of CO2e per year by closing down both our Heathrow and Wokingham server rooms…

Green Invoicing

All clients are given the opportunity to subscribe to our electronic green invoicing scheme and are encouraged to designate a recipient email address for the forwarding of invoices, statements and reminders from our accounts department. This helps to minimise both our and the clients carbon footprint by cutting down on paper copies of invoices and statements, and the miles travelled to deliver them. On the accounts payable side we have created the facility within our own software to receive, allocate and approve supplier invoices electronically thus negating the need for paper copies and postal services.

Transport

Through the use of a transport management system, we are committed to reducing the level of CO2 emitted by our fleet of vehicles. All vehicles are fitted with tracking devices which monitor driving behaviour related to fuel efficiency and which reduce unnecessary mileage by selecting the most effective routing. Our vehicles are regularly serviced, and all drivers are required to do various maintenance checks on a daily / weekly basis to ensure that vehicle engine emissions are minimised where possible.

The addition of eTransits to our fleet is a really positive move towards achieving our company’s target of net-zero emissions by 2030. This feels like a big step in our company’s timeline and signals the start of moving away from fossil fuel powered vehicles. Early indications are that drivers are pleased with the comfort and ease of driving – an important factor when spending 8 hours on the road! Our driving team will be giving them a period of real-time full load and range testing before deciding on the optimized delivery and collection routes they are best suited for. See our latest sustainability metrics.

Goods moved on our behalf by our network partners use a variety of different modes and types of transport. Whilst we are unable to directly control those companies with regard to their carbon footprint, we do investigate each suppliers CSR policy as part of our selection process and aim to work with companies whose environmental policy compliments our own.

Net Zero

Following a year’s extensive research and our commitment to the Net Zero 2030 pledge in 2022 we formed a partnership with Forests Without Frontiers. We were seeking an environmental partner with an already proven and audited record of planting but more than that we wanted a partner that could demonstrate the involvement of the extended community and create a program that considered all the elements of environment, sustainability, wildlife, and longevity around their schemes. We wanted a considered, holistic approach to our carbon offset program which Forests offers.

We fully appreciate that offsetting should be complimentary to environmental damage reducing actions, not an alternative to them. Through our pledge to Net Zero we are firstly reducing our carbon footprint as far as is possible and only then mitigating what cannot be reduced through the Forests partnership.

We currently use the following simplified methodology to measure the environmental impact of our own fleet of vehicles:
Each month we total the number of shipments we collect and process and divide our total monthly fleet mileage by the number of shipments – this gives us an average carbon cost of 2.9 miles per shipment (vehicles are obviously full of shipments!) The average mpg of our fleet of VW crafters and Ford Transits is 36 mpg. Forests calculated this to an average carbon cost of 0.96kgs of carbon per shipment. Round this up (for an over- provision) to 1kg per shipment x number of shipments = average of 17,300 kgs per month (17,000 average shipments per month but we over- provide again). Based on the recommendation of planting 4 trees per tonne (17.3 x 4 = 69.2) that would be 69.2 trees per month. Again, we round this total up to make a donation of 100 trees per month – better too much than too little and also allows for busier and quieter months and other areas of our business being less efficient!

A link to Forest Without Frontiers planting schemes is HERE

Recycling

Our waste disposal practices conform to current legislation and we only utilise the services of recognised waste management and recycling companies.

All general office waste is sorted for recycling with minimal landfill. All waste is certified on collection.

All cardboard and plastic waste is baled using our own Waste Press and collected and processed by TGM Environmental for full recycling. All recycling is certified on collection.

We have a full pallet and art case recycling service, re-using all pallets (standard, printers and euros) throughout our warehouse and distribution network. All treated pallets are kept for export services and all CHEP pallets are audited each week through the CHEP Pallet scheme.

Broken pallets and art cases that can’t be reused are collected by The Useful Wood Company. They recycle and reuse waste wood which helps to reduce deforestation and the need for landfill, which in turn helps to prevent the release of CO2 and methane into the atmosphere preventing damage to the environment. They are also a social enterprise company offering people who cannot access the job market at present the opportunity to gain experience of a real work environment, gaining confidence and useful skills for the future.

E-Cycling

Flight Logistics Group Ltd believes that local recycling through ethical organisations offers a more credible solution to offsetting carbon emissions.

Printer / toner cartridges form all our offices are recycled through Heathrow Special Needs Farm (one of our local chosen charities). The farm raises much needed revenue by recycling donated cartridges.

PRM Green Technologies collect redundant IT equipment for recycling, ensuring all data is removed and adherence to the WEEE directive by offering industry leading environmental practices.

IT equipment that is no longer required but is in good working order, is donated to DreamIT to help support their charitable vision “a world in which education is made accessible to the underprivileged through technology”. The focus is on helping women and girls from deprived areas through DreamIT’s initiatives, giving them an opportunity for success and improvement through education.

Office Consumables

We aim to follow the 5 “R” principles (Reduce, Reuse, Replace, Renew, Recycle) in the use of sustainable packaging consumables in our Mail, Fulfilment, Pick and Pack, and Courier and ShipArt™ operations. These include: Geami paper which is the perfect wrapping, Padpack brown paper filler and protector, eco fill which is 100% compostable, recycled and recyclable “green” bubble wrap and plastic pouches, and strong paper tape to bind the packages securely.

Our Working Environment

Flight Logistics continually focuses on, and invests in products, technologies and processes that help our company, our clients, and their clients to successfully deliver on corporate, social, and environmental responsibilities.

Here’s an update on two partnerships in particular:

We’ve recently appointed a new eco–friendly commercial cleaning service
Being fully aware that many cleaning products can be harmful to both the environment and the health of our staff and visitors, we are enormously pleased to announce that we have invited Reflections Cleaning Services to look after our Wokingham office. Reflections Cleaning Services use market leading equipment and eco-friendly supplies from Delphis and are SafeContractor approved.

Suez Group Waste treatment and disposal – Sustainability report
Suez helps us with a waste collection service where local companies can’t help. They have developed a solution that improves the identification, separation, and preparation of materials in order to optimise their reuse. Items that cannot be recycled are managed in an eco-friendly manner.

In a recently received sustainability report they highlighted that they diverted 6,675M tonnes of waste (88%) from landfill through reuse, recycling and recovery. The full report can be found HERE

We continue to source and partner with companies that can help us achieve our net zero target.

Flight Logistics currently supports the good work of the following organisations:

• Forests Without Frontiers
• Kimel Cafe
• Migrate Art
• Share Wokingham
• The Besom (Surrey)
• The Dogs Trust

In addition, we twin with villages in Cambodia and support MacMillan Cancer Relief with collection boxes at our offices and regular donations.