Our environmental vision and targets
SDG 13 Climate Action
As our number one priority is to take action to combat climate change and its impacts, we have set this ambitious target:
- To be net zero carbon by 2040
SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production
Another key priority is to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns across our operations. To support this journey we have committed to:
- Reduce waste production and improve recycling rates
- Develop our UK best practice supplier due diligence programme further and to seek to replicate this across all the countries that we operate in. This programme includes focussing on traceability, material composition and transport
Case Study
In 2022, we launched our Start to Finish procurement traceability programme in the UK. The aim was to review and shorten our supply chains, buying locally wherever possible to reduce our environmental impact, as well as increasing our economic contribution in the communities where we operate.
The initiative tracks the country of origin, packaging and end of life information for all of the products we purchase.
It has helped us improve visibility of our food supply chains and reduce packaging use, helping us work towards eliminating non-recyclable plastic.
This programme is now being rolled out to our other European markets as the best practise approach to supplier due diligence.
Global Network
Each country that we operate in is uniquely placed to tackle these priorities, so any initiative that we develop is tailored to consider local opportunities, challenges, and geographies.
We have a global network within Busy Bees to drive forward these priorities. Our Environmental Manager, based in the UK, leads on our environmental programme.
Each country that we operate in has an environmental representative. They are essential links to the local communities that we work in, to ensure the activities we are undertaking remain relevant to the group environmental strategy.
Our Eco Ambassadors who work in our centres are key to driving behavioural change.
Our Environmental Management Board meets quarterly to review our progress, to champion the sharing of best practice across the group and to help us work together in line with our strategy and towards our goals.
Our Progress So Far
We are making good progress towards achieving our environmental vision and targets and are always improving how we monitor key items such as:
Energy consumption
Scope 1, 2 and 3 carbon emissions
Waste production
The destination of waste - recycling, energy from waste and waste to landfill
Our fleet, mileage and other travel
As we are a growing business, we have historically tracked our progress on energy consumption, carbon emissions and waste generation against the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) children in our care, to help identify efficiency opportunities across the group. Going forward we will continue to track waste against the FTE and track energy and carbon against the number of centres we operate.
Where practical, we are:
- Continuing to roll out LED lighting across the Group
- Replacing end-of-life appliances and Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) with more efficient units, removing oil and LPG heating systems
- Improving energy efficiency through installing better insulation and heat mapping our UK building refurbishments and new builds
- Installing solar panels across our estate
- Procuring renewable energy
- Improving waste recycling facilities across our estate
- Reducing single use plastics within our supply chain
- Replicating our success with reducing carbon emissions our UK fleet in the other countries that we operate