In our continued use of ISO 20400 for Sustainable Procurement as a guide, we have established a forum with representatives from each business. Through this forum, and in collaboration with key suppliers, we have published a Sustainable Procurement Policy. Furthermore, we are integrating new environmental health and safety (EHS) software which includes supplier, carbon and social value modules. This will enable quantitative supplier-led reporting of sustainability performance data and our subsequent monitoring and evaluation. This data includes progress towards suppliers own ISO 50001 aspirations and the procurement of renewable electricity as well as metrics for health and safety, governance and quality.
The EHS software will also enable us to track supplier self-reported Scope 1 and 2 emissions. This data, together with the aforementioned sustainability performance data, will provide a backbone for more reflective, two-way, conversations with incumbent suppliers. In turn, this will allow for the opportunity to promote increasingly positive behaviour and, concurrently, a shift within Vp procurement to focus on sustainability just as much as price, quality and service. For new suppliers, our aim is to select those who are aware of their own carbon footprint and have a similar ambition and track record as Vp in reducing it.
We are proud to announce that Vp has recently achieved Gold Status for the Supply Chain Sustainability School’s (SCSS) Plant Charter. The SCSS is an online learning platform aiming to develop skills to deliver a sustainable built environment. Their Plant Charter is a set of minimum standards evaluating one’s commitment to reducing carbon emission and air pollution. Vp’s achievement of the highest award, Gold, demonstrates our excellence in combatting air pollution and carbon emissions through our high standards in procurement, stakeholder engagement, training and innovation. It is a priority for Vp to accelerate our transition away from rental assets powered by fossil fuel and towards those powered by battery and solar as well as non-powered products.
Future efforts will look at embedding the recommended standards of the First Movers Coalition (FMC). The FMC is a group of companies whose purchasing commitments help scale up and enable the environment for critical emerging technologies essential for net zero. We will look at the hard to abate sectors of Steel, Trucking and Aluminium as we not only want to reduce emissions produced through rental fleet operation but equally, reduce the embodied carbon through supporting the latest technologies and processes in the manufacture and transportation of our fleet.
We have made the following progress in reducing our carbon footprint:
- Established Divisional Product Review Groups throughout Vp to focus on accelerating the transition towards a zero emissions at point of use rental fleet;
- >60% of rental assets Group-wide are zero emissions at point of use;
- We are finalising the electrification of a fleet of 44 forklift trucks with significant carbon savings;
- Alongside customers, we have and continue to participate in “sites of the future” where up to 90% of all rental fleet is battery operated;
- We have increased sustainable company cars in our fleet from 20% to 50% having introduced sustainable options in all bandings last year and 11 sites now offer EV charging capabilities;
- Where electrification of our commercial vehicle fleet is currently not viable, we continue to enjoy reductions in emissions via replacements to more efficient technology.
An example of this is the stressing equipment that we supply to the rail sector. We have replaced 90% of our petrol powered rail stressing equipment for battery operated powerpacks. The remaining 10% will be swapped out over the next 12 to 24 months.