Corporate Responsibility and the Environment 2011

Suma is an IPS, a workers’ cooperative collectively owned and managed by its workers. Since first becoming established in the 1970s, the cooperative has founded its operations on a commitment to ethical trading and environmentally sound practice.

As the cooperative and its business have grown, so has the demand for resources and energy but Suma has never lost sight of its original priciples. In our day to day operation we are acutely aware of the issues confronting the climate and the effects of diminishing energy reserves.

Suma members tree planting

Cleaning the river Calder

Suma workers planting a roadside garden

As a responsible business we have always been aware of the impact commerce can have on the environment. The recently renewed interest among major corporations in mitigating the effects of climate change is a cause to which we have always subscribed. We have for some considerable time taken steps to limit our energy consumption through making improvements in efficiency. And we have actively offset impact which we are unable to control at source.

We are further committed to reducing our emissions and energy consumption by implementing stringent resource efficiency programmes. As collective owners and managers of the business, all members of the coop will be involved in assessing and reducing wherever possible their demands on resources, re-using materials whenever practicable and engaging in recycling wherever there is a demonstrable need.

We have worked hard to reduce our energy profile to its current level, which is well below the industry average. Our aim is to reduce the CO2 intensity of our operations a further 6% in the coming year with additional incremental savings thereafter.

Our warehousing and office facilities make use of 100% renewable electricity.

By supplying goods to outlying groups and communities, we are actively enabling significant reductions in supermarket shopping mileage.

As our distribution fleet is renewed, our dependence on mineral fuels will be reduced as we make use of bio-mass and other alternatives such as CNG.

Responding to the Challenge of Using Less

Our stationery and our catalogue are all made from recycled paper.

We clean up and protect the river and riverbank adjacent to our premises.

We take back cartons, cardboard and plastic containers from our customers for re-use and recycling.

Our lighting voltage management system has so far cut our electricity use by over 17%.

Responding to the Challenge of Using Less

“Our stationery and our price-list are all made from recycled paper.”

“We clean up and protect the river and riverbank adjacent to our premises.”

“We accept cartons, cardboard and plastic containers back from our customers for re-use and recycling.”

“Our warehouse lighting management system has so far cut our electricity use by over 17%.”

Our response to the problems we face concerning the degradation of our environment is a priori focused on our need as individuals to come to terms with using and consuming fewer resources.
From this jumping-off point, we achieve a more concerted effort at the corporate level in the knowledge that we are all collectively pulling in the same direction. Direct action means we also adopt a hands-on approach to helping repair some of the damage that commerce at large has caused.

As a business our statistics already measure up well against industry standards. Our per capita water consumption is currently more than 25% lower than average for a comparable commercial site and would be even lower if we could take advantage of rainwater harvesting. Regrettably the design of the warehouse precludes this option although the roof of our office accommodation might be viable.

Our consumption of paper is only about 70% of the industry average for a concern of our size.
We limit its use wherever possible but are obliged as a business to keep records and archives of essential documentation and the vast majority of our customers are in a similar position .

The upward trend in our mineral diesel consumption marks an increase in the fleet from 12 heavy goods vehicles to 15 in 2006. Distribution mileage has increased in line with increased sales. We have recently replaced one of our trucks with a 40-tonne articulated vehicle that means we can now send a single truck into areas where formerly two or three would be sent in the course of a week and have thereby also increased our capacity for back – hauling, ensuring our returning vehicles collect as much stock as possible, eliminating the need for additional delivery mileage from our suppliers. Our gas consumption is stable and reflects seasonal fluctuations as the majority of it is used for heating. In a year we use the equivalent of about three average family homes, which, with an on-site working population of 100+ workers at any given time, is modest. Nevertheless, we are in the process of investigating and evaluating ways to reduce our overall gas consumption. There are some interesting solutions emerging from parts of Asia on the production and consumption of biogas for cooking, for example.

All the electricity we use is guaranteed from renewable sources by our suppliers. We are mindful of the fact, however, that this is not a de facto licence to use it thoughtlessly. Our recently installed warehouse lighting has motion and lux-sensor control to optimise energy use while maintaining a safe working environment. Our office lighting units are controlled by motion sensors and each four-element fitting has had two elements removed with no compromise to health and safety considerations. The majority of the electricity we use powers our refrigerated storage units, which use HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons) as a refrigerant. These are currently the cleanest available option, containing no ozone depletion potential.

Environmental Data – Emissions

Suma has worked for the past five years in a match funding capacity with a local environmental group, Treesponsibility. An average of 5 hectares of nascent woodland has been planted every year since the project started in 2000, which already constitutes a carbon sink capable of absorbing several thousand tonnes of CO2 over the next 50 years.

All necessary care is taken to ensure the planting does not adversely affect birds or native plant species. Beyond that, soil chemistry is also taken into consideration. No planting takes place on peat bogs or moorland where heather thrives. Such landscapes serve important functions in providing habitats, storing carbon and absorbing water.

Native broadleaf species such as alder, birch, rowan, oak, willow and ash are planted in lean soils where the ultimate aim is to lock carbon into the soil at the same time as providing a sustainable resource by means of coppicing the plantation as it matures. This is in contrast to many ‘economic forestry’ projects where coniferous soft woods are planted in quite unsuitable regions, and run the risk of adversely affecting the planet’s albedo. Suma’s current total average CO2 emissions are 850 – 900 tonnes annually largely due to the need to burn mineral diesel in our distribution fleet.

Our Future

As part of our commitment to our environment we are constantly looking at ways of limiting our consumption and use of resources. We have ongoing awareness raising campaigns reminding colleagues to switch machines off after use and avoid wasting energy wherever possible. This is backed up with small reminders in poster format of how much energy is wasted just leaving a monitor on standby overnight. Just because the power we use is from a green source, there is no justification for using it unwisely or wasting it.

We aim to improve our energy efficiency by an aggregate 20% by 2012 against our baseline of 2004-05. Although we have already made significant progress in cutting our demand for electricity, there is more still to do. Through an agreement with our electricity suppliers, 100% of the power we use comes from renewable sources. Our next step is to take responsibility for generating as much as we need and we are currently researching the most practical way to achieve this goal.

Plans and priorities

Continue working on our sustainable, energy-efficient business equation
Incorporate renewable energy into new building design
Continue to make responsible use of electricity from 100% green sources
Aim for a realistic reduction in energy-related transport CO2 emissions.

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