Our Net Zero Carbon Reduction Plan sets out how Cygnet will cut its direct and indirect carbon emissions to net zero by 2040 and in our supply chain by 2045.
We are making good progress in reducing our waste and carbon footprint. Did you know that 100% of Cygnet’s electricity procured in 2021 is renewable?
We have also removed black plastic from our food supplies. Any plastic food packaging that’s designed to be used once and then thrown away is not good news for the environment. But black plastic poses a particular problem because despite being ‘recyclable’ in theory, the method used to colour the plastic means it can’t be recognised by the sorting systems used in most recycling plants.
All our new builds and renovations are completed to high environmental standards, with sustainability at the top of our property team’s agenda. For example, the team recently carried out substantial earthworks at Sherwood with over 2,000 lorry loads of earth removed off site, 100% of which was recycled for reuse. The team used intelligent digging, allowing us to increase productivity and efficiency, and reduce waste, helping lower our carbon footprint compared with other traditional methods.
Going forward, we will also reduce our use of paper and single use plastics. This year we are rolling out online payslips to all Cygnet staff and switching off paper payslips. This will have a two-fold benefit of making it easier for staff access pay information and cutting our paper wastage and carbon emissions from postage.
When we need to change or upgrade any of our vehicles we will replace them with electric vehicles where possible, to ensure our large fleet is increasingly environmentally friendly.
This year, we also launched the Co-Sustain initiative, which empowers service users and staff to take sustainability into their own hands. You can read more about this here.