Guest blog by Rebecca Garner, Serco Head of Environment, Energy and Sustainability
Dealing with plastic pollution, and single-use plastic, is one of the biggest environmental challenges we currently face, with millions of tonnes of plastic produced every year, and only a fraction of it recycled.
At Serco, we put social value at the heart of everything we do. This means we are committed to addressing climate change through positive environmental action, such as achieving net zero across all our carbon emissions by 2050.
That’s also why we have supported World Environment Day every year since 2010. It highlights the importance of our environmental responsibilities and reminds us all to be proactive in encouraging behaviour change, such as finding ways to reduce plastic pollution.
Here are just some of our innovative and effective plastic-pollution-beating initiatives carried out by our green ambassadors across Serco.
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Single use is out. On many of our contracts we have prompted the review of single use plastic in our catering provision, including with catering suppliers. We have introduced environmentally friendly / biodegradable / compostable hot drink cups and removed single use plastic cups from water coolers, encouraging colleagues to use their own water bottles. On Northlink Ferries the use of single use plastic bottles has been eliminated.
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Communication is key. With our clients Hart, Basingstoke and Deane Waste Services and University Hospital Southampton we developed communications strategies to increase recycling.
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Look for alternatives. On our defence contract with Rolls Royce we looked at ways to reduce plastic used in the repair of EJ200 engines (Typhoon Aircraft), identifying suitable alternatives to plastic.
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Back to basics. At Bisham Abbey, we ensured that recycling and food waste bins were installed on site to prevent waste going to landfill. At Darent Valley Hospital we added a crisp packet recycling scheme to our recycling options.
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Sometimes it’s the (really) small things. At RAF Coningsby our engineers are using reusable lint-free cotton bags to store removed small components e.g. nuts and bolts instead of plastic bags and we’re investigating the use of lint free cotton to prevent dirt ingress to non-fluid carrying pipework and electrical connectors in lieu of polythene bags or sheets.
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Refill rather than replace. On multiple contracts, including James Cook University Hospital we have explored the use of refills for soap bottle dispensers, to reduce the use of plastic.
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Switching-out. On our hospital contracts, efforts have been made to replace plastic food bags and containers with reusable, recyclable and biodegradable options in our catering departments. At Forth Valley Hospital all food-related single use plastics have been removed from site and replaced with vegware alternatives.
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Innovative solutions are out there. Working with Brakes, we have introduced new milk cartons which are fully recyclable. They’re made out of card and the caps are made from sugar cane, to replace all of the plastic milk bottles across our hospital contracts.
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Invest for the future. At the International Fire Training Centre, drinks vending machines have been replaced with boilers and plastic cups have been replaced with reusable cups throughout the site.
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Working with the supply chain. In our environmental services team an initiative is being launched this World Environment Day to use recycled PPE, to recycle PPE and workwear and to reduce use of plastic in the provision of workwear and PPE. Supplier Race Recycling has a zero to landfill policy, recycling all workwear including clothing, PPE and boots. New work clothing from supplier Leo Ecoviz (made from plastic bottles) is sent in larger batches, reducing packaging by 80%. Our teams’ Rockfall safety boots and Regatta workwear are made using polyester from plastic bottles.
And finally, measure > track > report. Across all environmental initiatives it’s important to report and measure the impact.
Reduce, reuse, recycle to #BeatPlasticPollution
You can also encourage your colleagues to get involved in creative ways. To raise awareness of plastic in food production, we’re asking teams across UK and Europe to have ‘lunch unwrapped’. The challenge is to make a change to ‘unwrap’ your lunch to reduce your plastic waste.
You could decide to have a team lunch together in the canteen or a cafe instead of using a takeaway box or single use wrapper. Or use a reusable container to bring your lunch to work and replace your single use drinks bottle with a reusable bottle. Finally, you could investigate how to recycle any plastic wrapping from your lunch!
