The Supply Chain Sustainability School launches its industry Plant Charter, committing to emissions reductions.
The School has launched its Plant Charter, a commitment by organisations designed to reduce their air quality emissions, and School Partner Flannery Plant Hire, has committed to be its first signatory.
The Plant Group has been working on how the sector can collaborate to reduce both air quality emissions that lead to local health impacts and the global effects of carbon emissions from the plant and equipment we all use. As a result, the group developed the Charter to encapsulate and communicate their approach to this.
James Cadman, School Plant Group lead & Lead Consultant at Action Sustainability explains:
“Our aim is that the Supply Chain Sustainability School will lead the way for the UK’s built environment to drastically reduce onsite emissions to air that are harmful to human health and the planet, such that they will reach net zero by 2040 and contribute to UN Sustainable Development Goals 3, 11 and 13. We would like organisations up and down the value chain to collaborate with us in coordinating our efforts to reduce these emissions for everyone’s benefit.”
Flannery have been a proactive member of the School’s Plant Category Group and support the collaborative approach across the industry to achieve these goals.
Managing Director Patrick Flannery commented:
“As a business, understanding our environmental impacts and managing these is really important. Sustainability and innovation are two of our key value drivers and underpin the decisions we make and ensure we can support clients in the delivery of the cleanest, and most efficient hire solutions for their construction projects.
It is, however, really important that there is a consistent approach throughout the supply chain and the Supply Chain Sustainability School are best placed to facilitate this. I am sure that this Charter will have a great impact and as a business, we wanted to confirm our commitment and support by being the first signatory.”
The industry has been under increased scrutiny from clients and the government on the negative effect engines have on the air quality of our towns and cities. Coupled with policy and penalties pushing organisations to address these issues via a fleet and plant strategy, the construction industry has been looking closely at how it operates plant, what it invests in, and how plant is disposed.
The Plant Group was established by School Partners and other key industry stakeholders to develop and facilitate the implementation of the School’s position on best practice sustainable procurement within the category. This Partner collaboration, including Flannery (Partners since 2012), is helping to identify and provide the supply chain with information and guidance on plant standards and management.
Flannery’s Strategic Manager Chris Matthew, who sits on the Group’s team, said:
“Being part of the working group that has developed this Charter has proved hugely beneficial for our business. Sharing best practice and ideas can only help to drive the behavioural change our industry needs to meet commitments to papers like this, but also broader papers like Construction 2025.
It has identified, for us, key areas that we know we understand and can now help our supply chain partners develop and adopt, through examples like our ECO-Operator program and our developing data offering for clients (the effective use of telematics to optimise hire fleet).
It has also supported the business as we forward plan, talking to manufacturers about investment and renewal of our fleet and the types of innovation we would like to continue seek out and bring to market.”
More information:
Visit our dedicated page on the Charter and see all the latest signatories here.
To read the Charter, please click here.
If you are interested in becoming a signatory to the Plant Charter, please get in touch with [email protected].
You can also have a look at the Plant Group’s Minimum Standards Guide.