Environmental & Sustainability Policy
JRA : Environmental & Sustainability Policy
John Roberts Associates are committed to sustainable development (meeting the needsof the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs) as a guiding principle within our work.
Concern for the environment is an integral and fundamental part of this commitment. Our aim is to reduce the impact on the environment from our operations.
Our environmental/sustainability action plan is our aim to promote good governance as well as dealing with aspects of poor practice. We will assess the environmental impacts of our operations and set objectives and targets in order to improve our environmental performance. We will regularly review these targets.
We will:
- Promote responsibility for the environment within the organisation and communicate and implement this policy at all levels within the workforce;
- Reduce the use of energy, water and other resources;
- Minimise waste by reduction, re-use and recycling methods;
- Comply with all relevant environmental legislation/regulation;
- Ensure that our policies and services are developed in a way that is complimentary to this policy;
- We should not prioritise funding needs ahead of sustainability requirements;
- Encourage all stakeholders to commit to the sustainable development philosophy;
- Identify and provide appropriate training, advice and information for staff and encourage them to develop new ideas and initiatives;
- Provide appropriate resources to meet the commitments of this policy;
- Promote and encourage involvement in local environmental initiatives/schemes.
This action plan is available to all staff and has been drawn to their attention.
Senior Management awareness will be raised at regular Management meetings
Key actions ensure continued roll out of electronic records document management system and online services initiatives to reduce need for paper
Improve Environmental awareness amongst staff and promote green housekeeping issues
Ongoing – The Managing Director and the Senior Management team continue to focus on
– The recruitment of an Environmental Manager and/or additional training in this area for the Quality Manager
– Preparation of the business according to the clear mandates of ISO 14001
– The viability for the formal introduction of ISO 14001 accreditation
Regular attention is given to
- Arranging automatic shutdown of PC’s at an agreed time each evening.
- Closely monitoring utilities consumption for the business.
- Where appropriate, increasing recycling options and fitting time clocks on items of equipment which are not required to be powered up 24/07.
- Using environmentally friendly products in kitchen areas.
- Installing light sensors in the offices, toilets and kitchen areas.
Information for our suppliers
We recognise that much of our environmental impact comes from goods we buy and services that we commission. For this reason, we sometimes expect our suppliers to meet environmental standards if the product or service has significant impact. Where this is the case, we will always specify clearly what we need when we invite quotations or tenders. We may also sometimes ask suppliers to tell us about any environmental features, or implications of their product or service when they tender or quote. We use this information as part of our evaluation.
Some examples of areas that are of interest to us are given below, although this is not the complete list:
- Timber products – where articles have a timber feature, we require these to be from legal and sustainable sources
- Paper and printing – we have standards for the recycled content
- Fabrics/Garments/Accessories – we require all dying to be conducted to REACH and/or OEKO-TEX 100 standards and be ZERO hazardous
- For larger and particularly significant contracts we may sometimes look to negotiate additional environmental benefits for the community as a form of social value
Any questions relating to the policy should be directed to
MarcR@johnrobertsassociates.co.uk