Our corporate carbon footprint
Find out about our carbon footprint, what we're doing to reduce it and read our annual greenhouse gas emissions reports.
Our annual carbon footprint is around 1,013 tonnes of CO2e per year. That's about 26 kilos per household that we serve in Uttlesford.
Where our carbon footprint comes from
Our carbon footprint is generated by:
- our services such as our bin lorries and maintenance vehicles, and site site visits by the planning and environmental health teams
- energy used at our supported housing
- energy used at our offices, depots and the Museum
As is to be expected, a large proportion of our emissions come from the heavy goods vehicles that collect household and commercial waste. Because of the rural nature of our district, on almost all routes these vehicles travel long distances.
Reducing our carbon footprint
We've reduced our annual carbon footprint from 2,115 tonnes in 2019-20 to 1,013 tonnes of CO2 in 2021-22.
We're now planning a number of things to help us reduce it even further.
Changing our bin lorry routes
As a high priority we're looking at where we can identify any opportunities for decarbonising some of our routes our bin lorries and maintenance vehicles use.
We'll be doing this via replacement of vehicles to lower emissions options. These plans will be consolidated into a sustainable fleet replacement strategy.
Using electric vehicles for site visits
We're also looking for opportunities to streamline our site visits and the potential of switching to electric vehicles for business travel.
It is possible that we could combine EV pool cars for business travel with an EV car club scheme available to the public, and we're looking at whether this is a logistically feasible idea.
Improving energy efficiency at our supported housing sites
Our supported housing and other buildings are under review for energy efficiency and decarbonisation opportunities, which will be published as a review of our estate's carbon footprint, along with details on planned upgrades. We're already using a green tariff for our energy.
Smarter procurement
As a purchaser of goods and services, we're looking at how we can reduce the emissions generated by our purchases, and, more widely, how we can ensure that social value is a key part of all procurement decisions.
Off-setting our carbon emissions
As a last resort, and to balance any residual emissions that we cannot remove even with the best available technology, we will consider off-setting our carbon emissions via an accredited provider.
Annual greenhouse gas emissions reports
Our annual greenhouse gas emissions reports provide a summary of our greenhouse gas emissions reporting process and associated emissions in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e).