Our desire is to collaborate with all as we look to work in harmony to provide a sustainable planet for future generations.
As a company, we aim to do this through the careful use of renewable natural resources, the sourcing of sustainable forest products and the reduction of our business operations carbon emissions.
By taking a data led approach to understanding our carbon footprint we will be able to measure our progress towards these aims, formulate our strategies accordingly and enthusiastically put them into practice.
Some elements will be more challenging to overcome and will require exciting & innovative thinking.
We are hoping to inspire, and in turn be inspired, in finding the best solutions for our planet.
"UPHOLDING AND PRESERVING OUR PLANET SHOULD NOT BE AN EFFORT BUT A NATURAL WAY OF LIFE"
GARY SCOTT MD
All of our products are legally sourced and subjected to a robust due diligence process to ensure environmental and technical assurance.
Of our products, 96% carry additional third party certification in the form of FSC®, PEFC and FLEGT.
We are a Planet Mark certified business so have committed to continually reducing our carbon footprint.
At the end of 2022, our carbon footprint per employee was 5.2 tCO2e. We are aiming to reduce this figure by at least 5% each year as part of our ongoing commitment to Planet Mark certification.
Our fleet of company cars is being switched over to fully electric vehicles which will be powered as far as possible by electricity generated from renewable resources.
We are investing in electric forklifts which will be powered using electricity generated from our solar panels.
We have a policy in place which is drastically reducing our waste going to landfill. In 2023, 89% of our operational waste was recycled. The remaining waste is diverted from land fill to a material recovery facility where it is further segregated and recycled where possible, the rest if sent to energy for waste.
Our new solar panel installation uses the most recently available technology and is able to generate around 220,000 kWh per annum. That's enough energy to power 60 UK homes for the entire year.
If, for some reason, we do not generate enough supply to match our consumption, our fallback energy supply is a zero carbon energy contract.
We work with EcoVadis who monitor and measure our commitment to the environment, sustainable sourcing, ethical trading and human rights.
We currently hold a Silver EcoVadis Medal and we are aiming for Gold in 2024.
Net Zero
We are proud to announce that we have achieved the Planet Mark Business Certification, furthering our commitment to reduce our impact on society. This is a significant achievement involving the entire business.
Hanson Plywood Ltd is committed to Net Zero. The first step is measuring our carbon footprint. We are working closely with Planet Mark to help us reduce our carbon emissions year-on-year. Currently we measure our scopes 1,2 and ‘core’ elements of our scope 3 emissions. By furthering our scope of measurement, we will have a greater understanding of our carbon footprint which will help structure our approach to net zero.
The Planet Mark Business Certification is an internationally recognised sustainability certification for all organisations acknowledging continuous progress, encouraging action and building an empowered community of like-minded individuals.
In order to achieve this sustainability certification, we’ve followed a robust three-step process: Measuring our impact, engaging everyone in the business and communicating our progress.
We have measured our own carbon footprint and will continue to take responsibility of our carbon emissions to have a positive impact on planet and society. We are also contributing to the UN SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) as we believe that its important, more than ever, to do more good and create a sustainable future.
Our entire business has contributed to our achievement in becoming Planet Mark Certified, and every individual will continue to play an important role in our sustainability commitment.
We want to continue to have a positive impact through our business and hope that we can empower our community to take climate action. We hope that you will join us in this movement for change.
We encourage you to get in touch if you would like further details on our policies and actions.
At Hanson Plywood, we recognise that although wood and wood-related products are comprised of a naturally renewable material, unsustainable and irresponsible harvesting of forests can have severe adverse effects on the environment, local communities, indigenous people of the forest as well as the global economy.
Following the UK’s departure from the European Union, the same system has now been expanded to ensure our compliance with the UK Timber Regulation (UKTR) with the main difference being that the scope of our due diligence system focusses more intently on all non-UK purchases as opposed to all non-EU products as it was under the EUTR.
The company has achieved FSC® (Forest Stewardship Council®) as well as PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes) Chain of Custody certification and aims to continue to promote the use of materials that are certified under these schemes. Both the FSC and PEFC schemes prevent direct involvement in illegal logging, destruction of high conservation values in forests and human rights violations of people indigenous to the area of forestry.
Both schemes require that the company has management systems in place in order to correctly identify and control incoming certified material. The enforcement of this requirement means that all certified companies in the supply chain are protecting the chain of custody of forest products so goods can be labelled as coming from sustainable and well-managed forest management units.
You can download our FSC® and PEFC Chain of Custody certificates by clicking the links below.
Hanson Plywood operate using an Environmental Management System which is certified to ISO 14001. Our management system puts in place a framework that allows us to reduce, manage, mitigate and where possible remove any activities the company undertakes through its operation which may have adverse effects on the Environment.
The system puts us on a course of continual improvement in relation to potential environmental impacts such as fleet management, fuel consumption, warehouse operations, office facilities and volatile organic compounds to name a few.
As an importer and distributor of wood based sheet materials, Hanson Plywood recognises it’s obligations to carry out our endeavours while maintaining a sustainable environment for the surrounding community, our customers and future generations. Our Environmental Management System allows us to meet these obligations and pursue efficient and environmentally-friendly methods of operation.
FLEGT - Forest Law Enforcement, Governance & Trade
Hanson Plywood import products from Indonesia;a country comprised of well over 13,000 islands with over 91 million hectares of forest cover. Forest cover has steadily declined over the past few decades due to a lack of infrastructure, uninformed management of these resources, the rise of palm oil production and illegal logging. However, recent revolutionary changes in forest legislation, governance and management have made an instant impact on these factors and contributed to the reforestation and conservation of one of the most bio-diverse countries in the world.
Indonesia is the first country in the world to complete the process of a Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) with the European Union, legally obligating the country to implement a licensing scheme to regulate trade in timber and timber products. Currently, this means that all timber exported from Indonesia has to be fully traceable and certified under Indonesia’s country-wide Timber Legality Assurance Scheme, SVLK.
SVLK (Sistem Verifikasi Legalitas Kayu) was developed through multi-stakeholder consultations and, by process of further modification, became a nation-wide scheme which offers market incentives for legal compliance (timber cannot be exported without supplying evidence that it complies with SVLK). Alongside this, the Indonesian Ministry of Environment & Forestry developed an online system (SIPUHH Online) which tracks logs all the way back to the concession using a QR barcode-scanning system.
SVLK is now the first timber legality assurance scheme to be recognised by the European Union Timber Regulation (EUTR), and now, the UK Timber Regulation (UKTR) as a framework that assures the legality of timber sourced from Indonesia’
All timber products certified under SVLK and exported from Indonesia are now FLEGT Licensed as of November 2016. A FLEGT Licence is currently the only licence that ensures full, verifiable compliance with the European Union Timber Regulation.
Hanson Plywood were part of a small selection of EU-based companies that were part of the first import of FLEGT licensed timber products from Indonesia. Now, all of our Indonesian imports are FLEGT licensed, allowing for a legally verifiable product and a fully traceable supply chain.
Hanson Plywood aims to provide the highest standards of assurance for the business and our customers in all environmental, ethical, and technical considerations. HEAT is our dedicated team of staff that work solely on all of these specific considerations within our business.
The purpose of the HEAT team is to ensure that the company provides trusted and valuable resources to our clients in matters and principles which the company regards as at the core of our trading ethos
The team has a focus on responsible sourcing of timber products, supply chain transparency, the management of environmental systems and processes, overall carbon reduction, the implementation of innovative solutions to reduce environmental impacts, company compliance with applicable legislation all whilst influencing the overall strategic direction of the business in environmental matters.
Members of the HEAT team are part of the TDUK (Timber Development UK) Responsible Sourcing Sub-Committee (as chair), the TDUK’s Sustainability Committee as well as the TDUK’s National Panel Products Division.
This ensures that the company is aware of upcoming legislative changes, supply chain risks and beneficial initiatives, helping to encourage and enforce positive change within the trade.
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