• Swindon & Wiltshire Eco
• Tuesday May 7 2024
• Author Name: Peter Davison

Electronic waste specialist hits first hectare target in tree-planting campaign

Electronic waste specialist iWaste has achieved a target of helping to plant more than a hectare of trees in an ongoing campaign to offset its carbon footprint.

The Reading-based company has partnered with environmental organisation Forest Carbon since 2020 and has so far ‘captured’ a total of 439.1 tonnes of CO2, helping to plant approximately 1,756 trees.

Carbon emissions produced by the company’s waste collecting vehicles and employees’ journeys to and from work are off-set through the UK woodland carbon capture scheme.

With four trees planted for every tonne of carbon emitted, iWaste’s contribution from 108 tonnes of carbon footprint equates to approximately 432 trees planted every year.

The project helps create new woodlands that benefit the country, the landscape and the global environment.
iWaste is supporting initiatives in Yorkshire, Northumberland, the Scottish Borders and Highlands, as well as internationally in Uruguay, Peru and Guatemala.

Pauline Griggs, iWaste compliance officer and environmental ambassador, said: “We care greatly about our environment and our actions as a business are formulated with that thought in mind.

“We are particularly proud about our achievement in helping to plant a hectare of trees and, while continue to strive to reduce our overall emissions, we remain committed to supporting the work of Forest Carbon.”

IWaste’s comprehensive roster of environmental objectives includes striving for zero waste offices, the use of renewable energy wherever possible and the introduction of plastics and cardboard bailers.

The company has also introduced battery bins to its premises to make recycling simpler and sourced recyclable warehouse gloves for employees to wear around the site, as well as zero waste sanitary products.

Founded in 2013, iWaste also aims to create as little waste as possible by extracting and recycling valuable components from redundant electrical and electronic equipment, claiming 98 per cent of waste is diverted from landfill.

iWaste was one of the first electrical waste recycling companies in the UK to achieve B Corp certification, known as the gold standard for sustainability, after a rigorous assessment process covering five key impact areas – environment, governance, workers, community and customers.

B Corp certification, which measures a business’s entire social and environmental impact, is awarded by global non-profit network B Lab and is held by just 6,300 companies worldwide.

Last year iWaste, which employs 35 people, also celebrated its 10th anniversary and moved to bigger premises outside Reading to facilitate strategic business growth, as well as investing heavily in infrastructure, vans, people and a new bespoke, cloud-based management portal which drove an ambitious move to a paperless operation.

Edinburgh-based Forest Carbon has been working with businesses and land holders since 2006, helping fund the planting of more than 13 million trees and the restoration of 2,000 hectares of degraded peatlands.

The trees are planted in both independently audited woodland and areas right across the UK as certified under the UK Woodland Carbon Code – the government backed standard which provides complete assurance of the high quality carbon investment for corporate organisations.

These projects will remove 3.3 million tonnes of CO2e from the atmosphere, whilst providing a host of important benefits to society including flood mitigation, enhanced biodiversity and increased public access.