Environmental Policy
General Policy Statement
This policy statement aims to outline ClearView Communications Ltd environmental commitments and awareness of the social obligations it undertakes in its trading.
ClearView is committed to the promotion of environmentally sound practice, preserving natural resources and preventing environmental pollution in all dealings with each and every stakeholder, in all its business activities.
Objectives
- To minimise and where reasonably practicable eliminate any adverse impact on the environment from the activities of the business.
- To minimise the use of energy, resources consumed and waste produced, whilst maintaining a professional and safe working environment.
- Support the reuse and recycling of materials.
- Minimise the use of non-renewable resources, hazardous chemicals and other pollutants, in favour of echo-friendly product and material alternatives.
- To ensure that all waste produced by the ClearView is disposed of in line with environmental legislation, and using an accredited contractor who will endeavour to recycle where possible, and reduce the need for landfill. Such contractor will be required to supply a report to monitor the recycling of our waste.
- To provide appropriate and adequate information and training to our employees, in order that they to understand and fulfil their environmental responsibilities to the Company, and are competent in all environmental matters.
- To ensure that all ClearView operations have identified and evaluated all potential risks to the environment associated with its business activities.
- Establish and measure our environmental performance against objectives, which will identify significant environmental aspects and impacts from current and past activities. Ensuring mistakes are rectified and appropriate changes made.
- Continually improve our environmental performance.
- Comply with, and wherever possible exceed the environmental requirements of appropriate legislative bodies and our customers.
Principles
The four objectives for sustainable environmental development, recognised by the UK Government are:-
- Social progress and equality
- Environmental protection
- Conservation of natural resources
- Stable economic growth
It is, therefore, our legal and moral responsibility to ensure all our activities prevent damage to the environment. We seek to sustain and enhance the environment and encourage our customers, colleagues and suppliers to adopt a similar stance.
Requirement
An environmental management system will be developed to ensure the potential impact of all our activities are identified, assessed and satisfactorily mitigated. It will be a continual cycle of planning, implementing, reviewing and improving processes and actions ClearView Communications Ltd undertakes in meeting its business and environmental goals. This will be achieved by:
Environmental management: ensuring the environmental aspects and impacts of our activities are monitored from the highest level, minimising environmental damage.
Environmental responsibility: All employees have clearly defined responsibilities and are adequately trained, motivated and confident within their roles.
Environmental objective: Initiatives to support sustainable development will be identified and implemented locally.
Environmental promotion:
- All employees will undertake environmental training
- Employees are at all times to be environmentally aware, reporting any unsatisfactory conditions or improvements to management to ensure continual changes can be made.
- How we undertake our business will be reviewed on a regular basis to consider alternative ways of working that may positively contribute to the sustainable development of the environment.
- We will endeavour to perform and promote:
- Recycling of used resources
- Rethinking the way business is conducted
- Reusing resources wherever possible
- Reducing energy and resource use
Action Plan
To meet the objectives of ClearView Communications Environmental policy, the following actions will be implemented, though this list is not exhaustive;
- Purchase paper, subject to quality and price, which contains the highest proportion of recycled material.
- Avoid use of coated / glossy papers where alternatives exist as such materials require greater resource use and prove difficult to recycle.
- Refuse sacks should be made from 100% recycled plastics
- Office waste bins and liners made from 100% recycled plastics
- Avoid purchase of plastic products where a more environmentally friendly option is available, e.g. recycled card lever arch files should be purchased and not plastic PVC ones.
- Disposable plastic products should not be purchased, where longer lasting and reusable alternatives are available.
- Provide high visibility recycle bins / points within the Head office for items such as paper, ink cartridges and production materials.
- Energy should be saved at every possibly opportunity; lights should be switched off when feasible in addition to closing windows and doors to reduce expenditure of heating.
- Educate, train and motivate employees to monitor and assess the activities of themselves and others to ensure continuous improvement can be achieved.
- Modify the marketing and use of products or services or the conduct of activities, consistent with current scientific and technical understanding, to prevent serious or irreversible environmental degradation.
- Purchase remanufactured or refilled toner and ink-jet cartridges for ink-jet printers and fax machines, reusing and recycling.
- To advise, and where relevant educate, our customers in the safe disposal of products.
- Replace disposables with reusable’s or recyclables where appropriate. Ozone depleting substances should be avoided at all costs.
- The generation of sources of noise pollution will be monitored and reduced.
- Develop and provide products or services that have no undue environmental impact and can be recycled, reused or disposed of safely.
- Develop, design and operate facilities and conduct activities taking into consideration the efficient use of energy and materials.
Ensure the legal disposal of all wastes arising from the activities of the business:-
- Conduct research on the environmental impacts of raw materials, products and processes associated with ClearView Communications Ltd, and on the means of minimising such adverse impacts. Where possible this will be supported by visiting relevant companies and organisations, such as ‘Endoline’.
- All waste will be disposed of in accordance with the guidelines laid down within
the Environment Agency’s decree, specifically:
- all waste is handled, recovered and disposed of responsibly
- waste will only be handled, recovered or disposed of by individuals or businesses that are authorised to do so.
- As laid down within the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) guidelines: Waste will be stored safely and securely in order to prevent pollution, contamination or harm to others.
- The collection, storage and removal of wastes from ClearView Communications Ltd will, as far as reasonably practicable be undertaken in accordance with the current legislation.
Comply with, and wherever possible exceed the environmental requirements of appropriate legislative bodies and our customers.
- To recognise environmental management as among the highest corporate priorities and as a key determinant of sustainable development to establish policies, programmes and practices for conducting operations in an environmentally sound manner.
- Monitor and continuously improve upon the recent polices and procedures introduced to support our legal requirements under the WEEE and RoHs regulations.
- Make available to all employees, customers, public and statutory authorities, company information relevant to health & safety and the environment.
- Working towards the attainment of ISO14001 or other appropriate recognised standards associated with environmental best practice.