Our Carbon Footprint Journey

As part of our commitment to reducing our environmental impact, we’re proud to share our first Carbon Footprint Report, covering the 2023 calendar year. We know we’re not perfect, but we’re serious about trying to do things better. This first report establishes our baseline and provides a foundation for developing our Emission Reduction plans. It has helped us identify where our environmental impact is most significant and where we have the greatest opportunities to improve.

We partnered with MyImprint to complete our first data collection project, measuring emissions across Scope 1, 2, and key Scope 3 activities - including fuel, electricity, freight, marketing, waste, and business travel.

What We Found:
Our total emissions in 2023 were 715t CO2e.

Here’s what stood out:

• Vehicle fuel use is our largest source of emissions, accounting for nearly half of our footprint.
• Freight and business fuel are also major contributors.
• Activities managed by our National Support Office, including marketing and events, also create significant carbon emissions, something we’re actively working to reduce.

Branch Impact
We also learned how much variability exists across our branch network. By breaking emissions down by region, we can support our local teams to implement region-specific strategies in their Branches

What We’re Doing About It:
We’ve set a target to reduce our gross emissions by 35% by 2030, using 2023 as our baseline year.

Our key areas of focus include:

• Reduce our marketing materials
• Minimise Business Travel
• Transition to hybrid/electric vehicles
• Remove unnecessary packaging materials

It has started important conversations across our team. We also learned that reducing emissions doesn’t require perfection from day one. It requires commitment, collaboration, and a willingness to improve as we go.

Looking Ahead
Releasing this report is part of our commitment to transparency and continuous improvement. Whether you're a customer, supplier, or a member of the OPD team, thank you for being part of this journey with us.

If you’d like to read the full Carbon Footprint Report, you can see it here