Reducing the amount of ‘food miles’ within our business makes sense from both a commercial and environmental perspective. This year, we have successfully implemented improved logistics models to reduce the amount of deliveries required to each site on a daily basis by consolidating all the volume into a ‘one stop shop’. For example, in Ireland we have removed about 2.2 million kilometres from our deliveries, saving 2,000 tonnes of CO2 per annum. In France, we have reduced delivery kilometres by 20% since 2002 and, in the United Arab Emirates, the new logistics platform is expected to reduce deliveries by around 600,000 kilometres this year.
In 2009, in conjunction with key UK clients, we participated in the Supply Chain module of the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), which is designed to measure carbon risks and liabilities through the supply chain.
Feedback from this programme will be used to refine our environmental strategy in relation to the supply chain and further collaborate with our suppliers to achieve environmental efficiencies in our day to day operations.