Four ways to get your organisation thinking Green in 2022

The start of a new year brings fresh opportunities.

This year, more and more businesses are being encouraged to go green. For example, in 2022, the UK Government is due to introduce the plastic packaging tax and bring in mandatory reporting obligations under the Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). However, it isn’t just politicians putting pressure on businesses to change for the greener. Eight in 10 consumers are actively trying to reduce their plastic waste and many are willing to pay higher prices as a result. Not only that but research suggests employees will also appreciate efforts to reduce their employer‘s environmental footprint. A recent IBM survey found that 71% of job seekers want to work for environmentally sustainable companies after the pandemic.

When looking at what to prioritise in your business, it’s not always clear. Simply switching from single-use plastic to another disposable item made from a material such as paper or glass is not always the most environmentally-friendly action. It can have unintended consequences such as leading to increased carbon emissions or food waste. For small hospitality businesses with limited resources and other competing demands, the challenge of reducing single-use plastics can seem overwhelming.

If you’re struggling to think of ways you can go green this year, BRITA‘s new toolkit to help SMEs reduce their environmental footprint provides ample advice and guidance. We‘ve picked some top tips to start you off in 2022.

Green globe

  1. Conduct an audit. It’s important to be clear about what you want to focus on and where you are aiming to achieve change. Areas to consider include waste management and recycling, hydration solutions, packaging (coming in and out of your business – for example the ingredients you bring in or food customers take away), and your supply chain.
  2. Engaging colleagues. Before you begin making change, it is important to understand what your staff think. The easiest way to do this is via a simple survey. This could also be shared with suppliers! Check out page 13 of the toolkit for an example survey.
  3. Quick wins. Start by focusing on the immediate internal changes that can be made without significant cost or time pressure. This could be identifying where you can remove non-essential plastic and setting reduction targets. Or you could place recycling bins in accessible locations if they aren’t there already.
  4. Supply chain mapping. Think about your suppliers and build a database to map who they are, what they do for you and who the key contacts are. Start by auditing a couple of those operating in your chosen priority areas for tackling single-use plastic. Map what is within your control to change..

The toolkit, Greening Your Workplace: A Guide To Help Small Businesses Tackle Their Single-Use Plastic Footprint, follows research by Keep Britain Tidy and BRITA UK finding that, despite 69% of SMEs believing the prevention of plastic waste was important to their business, more than 40% had not carried out any of nine simple measures[1] to reduce single-use plastic waste. This included more than 44% of businesses in the hospitality sector – showing why going green should be a priority in 2022.

[1]43% said they had not implemented any of the following in the past year; an audit of the single-use plastics used in their business; selected new suppliers based on their environmental credentials with regard to single-use plastics; replaced some or all of the single-used plastics used in their supply chain; replaced some or all of the single-use plastics staff use with reusable alternatives; encouraged staff to use reusable alternatives; replaced some or all of the single-use plastics customers use with reusable alternatives; ran initiatives to encourage customers to reduce their use of single-use plastics; used incentives to encourage customers to reduce their use of single-use plastics; and installed or increase availability of filtered drinking water taps/fountains.

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