Environmental Policy

The Pelican Buying Company takes its responsibilities to the environment very seriously.
In order to meet these responsibilities, the Company has developed and is committed
to its Environmental Policy.

The starting point of the Policy is compliance with all the relevant legal requirements,
in addition to which, the Company will work to a continuous programme of improvement.
The Policy is periodically reviewed by the Company’s senior management team to ensure continuing compliance and to assess improvements in environmental performance.
The overall responsibility for the Policy lies with the Company Secretary.

The Policy applies to all personnel whether office or home-office based and is provided to employees in the Staff Handbook and is circulated via email and the Company Newsletter
when any changes are made to it; it is also available to clients upon request.

Personnel with a direct responsibility for any activity affected by this Policy are trained
to ensure understanding of the aims of, and compliance with, the Policy.

Pollution prevention
The Company is committed to preventing the risk of pollution and minimising air, water
and land pollution. This is achieved by:

providing diesel vehicles that have low CO2 emission levels for essential car users
operating a no-smoking policy
reducing waste and thereby minimising landfill use

Waste management
The Company ensures that all waste is stored and disposed of responsibly in order to reduce the total amount of waste sent to landfill by running a waste minimisation scheme in
the office.

Small bins at each desk should only be used for non-recyclable waste where possible. Paper and cardboard should be placed in the recycling bins
Double sided printing should be used where possible as well as the re-use of scrap paper
Used toner cartridges should be placed in the cartridge recycling box which is located downstairs
Redundant furniture and computer equipment are offered to others for re-use
Use mugs/cups instead of plastic/polystyrene cups
Cancel any subscriptions for unwanted journals
Send information via email where possible, such as price lists
Please refrain from printing out emails unless absolutely necessary
When disposing of cardboard boxes, the box needs to be flattened so that it doesn’t take up as much space in the recycling bin
Have milk delivered so as to re-use the glass milk bottles
Where possible and if viable, car sharing is encouraged
Only fill the kettle with the amount of water necessary

Energy efficiency
Where possible, measures are taken that will improve energy efficiency, these include:

all electric lights are switched off when not needed
natural lighting is maximised by ensuring that all windows are regularly cleaned
natural daylight is used in preference to electric lighting
computers and printers are switched off outside working hours
printers are shared
all equipment with ‘power save’ features have them activated
the dishwasher is only used when it is full

Travel
The Company is committed to raising awareness of the environmental impact and changing attitudes to reduce use of cars. This is supported by:

where practical, encouraging home-working
encouraging essential car users to ensure efficient route planning
reducing the availability of company cars by providing cash allowances as an alternative
when selecting company vehicles, giving consideration to CO2 levels and fuel efficiency in order to minimise negative environmental impacts
ensuring that company-operated vehicles are maintained and operated as efficiently as possible to maximise their performance
reducing the need for business travel by encouraging the use of electronic communications
encouraging car sharing when staff travel together on business

Purchasing
Purchases are only made if they are really needed and, where possible, products containing re-used or recycled materials are bought. Whenever practical, products are purchased from local suppliers. When assessing suppliers, consideration is given to their environmental policies.

Our Policies