The Background
OCS NZ has a long-standing and genuine commitment to a more sustainable and eco-friendly way of operating. One of their strategic business objectives is to be the most environmentally sustainable business in the facilities management sector by 2030. They are a member of the Sustainability Council of New Zealand and a foundation member of the Climate Leaders’ Coalition. Both these memberships require a commitment to wide-ranging business practices in support of environmental change. OCS ANZ Managing Director Gareth Marriott wanted to extend the company’s measurable commitment to greenhouse gas reductions and enable independent tracking of OCS’ progress towards ambitious sustainability goals across the company. OCS engaged in a programme of research into credible and verified endorsement options and decided to embark on the Toitū carbonreduce certification programme, managed by Toitū Envirocare (formerly Enviro-Mark Solutions).
The Process
The first step was to comprehensively review OCS’ carbon emission sources because these are different for every business, even within the same sector.
As a nationwide organisation with 4000 team members and 25 branches, transport-related emissions are major contributors to OCS’ emissions. They identified the following emission sources which were then captured by the Toitū emanage software.
+ Fleet Vehicle Fuel (litres)
+ LPG stationary commercial (litres)
+ Electricity (kWh)
+ Staff air travel (pkm)
+ Private car (km travelled)
+ Waste to landfill (tonnes)
+ Paper recycling (kg)
+ Paper consumption (kg)
+ Taxi use (in dollars
To ensure accuracy and a dependable baseline of data, the majority of data came from trusted suppliers. Where there were data gaps, a conservative estimate was made and plans were put in place for improvement in data collection. For example, waste information (tonnage) was difficult to obtain from smaller branches and suppliers as they were not weighing waste in 2017 and 2018, which were the periods covered by the audit.
In this way, the audit process has shown ways in which OCS could improve data collection and record-keeping. The rigour of the Toitū Envirocare programme means OCS is now in a stronger position to understand all its sources of carbon emissions and their relative contributions. It has also seen OCS implement systemic and replicable data collection across all sites and branches.
Once all relevant data was gathered and analysed, it was collated and presented in two reports: The Emissions Inventory Report and the Emissions Management and Reduction Plan. These reports lay out the current and planned emission reduction measures, along with OCS’ progress to date.
The onsite audit process began once the two reports had been completed. A Toitū Envirocare auditor spent time with OCS and conducted a thorough evaluation of both reports and the company’s data across two days. Any shortfalls that became apparent during the auditor’s visit were addressed as part of the process and action was taken to ensure all standards of reporting were acceptable.
After the auditor’s visit, the audit files were again reviewed by a certifier as the final step in the endorsement process.
“Toitū Envirocare has a scrupulous auditing process and a reputation for integrity and diligence. Just as important from my perspective are the targets and milestones you have to meet in order to attain the certification each year. I’m a firm believer in setting aspirational sustainability goals alongside our other business objectives.” — Gareth Marriott Managing Director, OCS ANZ
The Result
OCS NZ was awarded the Toitū carbonreduce certification for 2017/18 and plans to also submit 2019 data for certification once the full year’s figures are complete and available. Throughout the rigorous process, OCS NZ was able to demonstrate an 18% reduction in emissions between 2017 and 2018. This was achieved through multiple measures, including reducing air travel (both international and domestic), vehicle use and changing their electricity supplier to Ecotricity. Ecotricity is New Zealand’s only carboNZero Certified renewable electricity supplier.
What it means?
The Toitū carbonreduce certification is in accordance with ISO 14064-1, allowing certified organisations to make carbon reduction claims with confidence in any market. Toitū Envirocare certifications are recognised in over 60 countries, which is valuable for companies working in global supply chains or exporting products.
Toitū carbonreduce certification is accepted by the CDP (formerly Carbon Disclosure Project), and in the UK it is licensed by the UK Environment Agency and recognised by the UK Energy Savings and Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) as a route to compliance. Toitū Envirocare takes part in developing the leading international standards in greenhouse gas measurement and reduction and collaborates with its parent company Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research.
“An 18% reduction is something to be proud of, and it proves the measures we have taken are really making a difference. We still have some way to go, but that’s the beauty of being involved with Toitū Envirocare – it’s an ongoing commitment to setting and achieving fresh targets each year, and what that means is coming up with new and innovative ways of doing things. “More than ever it is important for large companies like OCS to step up and apply that same sort of brain power and problem-solving to meeting the challenge of lowering our emissions.” — Gareth Marriott Managing Director, OCS ANZ