The transportation sector produces 28% of the UK’s greenhouse gases (GHG) and whilst emissions have reduced marginally, increased use of aviation and more delivery vehicles on the roads, has led to a lackluster emission reduction of just 3% over the last twenty years. In contrast, the energy sector has seen reductions of 32% since 1990.
To support the UK Governments pledge to become NetZero by 2050, and in line with other recently published strategies, the final draft of its ‘setting the challenge’ to decarbonise transport has been released. At present, current policies are set to deliver only half the emission targets needed by 2032, so it is clear that significant effort will be required by all.
The Government is calling for support and input from individuals, trade associates, businesses, researchers, and innovators who want to be part of the green revolution. It focuses on six main priorities as shown below.
If you are interested in supporting the decarbonisation of transport plan but are not sure what do to, take a look at some of the measures implemented at Midas and see if you can apply them to your business.
- Invested in a dual FastCharge EV charge point (BPChargemaster) to support the current EV infrastructure. Employees and visitors can charge for free whilst on-site at Midas, which we hope will remove range anxiety and encourage further uptake of electric vehicles.
- Switched to multi-drop couriers for deliveries rather than using our existing diesel fuel van
- Targeted waste reduction throughout the business to reduce skip collection. We have moved from weekly skip collections to just one collection per month by focusing on waste reduction. The use of shredding equipment and an industrial compactor helps us to reduce waste volume and has provided an opportunity to shred and recycle cardboard to repurpose it for bulk packaging material.
- We buy local where possible and combine orders to reduce the number of delivery drops
- We have reduced business travel and embraced digital technology to support online meetings, virtual factory tours, and customer support.
- We are lucky to have a workforce that lives locally to Bedford so a combination of remote working, car-sharing amongst staff, along with cycling and walking to work have all been encouraged.
You can read more about the plan and why it is needed in these documents
Decarbonising transportation ‘Setting the Challenge’
Department for Transport ‘Decarbonsing Transport’.
If you are interested in understanding more about Midas and our carbon-neutral, RIM moulding facilities, get in touch