Sustainability

Aston Barclay's Environmental Social and Corporate governance (ESG) strategy

Environmental sustainability is an essential factor that affects various industries worldwide, including the automotive sector. As a renowned car auction company, Aston Barclay understands the significance of maintaining a sustainable environment and is committed to minimizing its carbon footprint. Environmental sustainability has become a crucial aspect of Aston Barclay's operations, and the company has implemented various measures to promote eco-friendliness in the industry. In this article, we will discuss the importance of environmental sustainability for Aston Barclay car auctions and how the company is working towards sustainable practices to reduce the impact on the environment.

Aston Barclay has a dedicated charity committee in place to oversee the charity work we support. We also:

• Waste – Improved waste streams across the group, with a clear focus on increasing recycling. This increased recycling on waste streams such as paper, cardboard, plastic, glass and metal
• Wellbeing - “Managing Your Mood “ sessions for staff to join which supported dealing with the challenges of the pandemic. The campaign has continued all year with Ben advice line shared in the Bugles.
• Mental Health First Aiders – 12 colleagues have recently attended a MHFA England approved 2-day course. The colleagues are spread across all 6 sites and are from varying departments to ensure that they can support a wide range of colleagues.

Minimising resources

• Head Office at Wakefield features a 75kw Solar PV system. We are looking to expand on this across other sites to support our EV Charging Projects.
• 12 x 22kW chargers at Donington site, to complement the sites existing charging capability. Wakefield will be the next site to have fast chargers installed.
• All sites feature LED lighting throughout buildings, car parks and yards. All laptops and PC’s are programmed with energy saving timers.
• Water Recycling - The new automated car wash that we have recently installed at Chelmsford features a water recycling system that saves and recycles water used in a car wash. This has a huge positive effect with our environmental impact with regards to water usage.
• Cycle To Work Scheme launched to encourage people to purchase a new bicycle and cycle to work.
• Car Sharing Scheme has been launched, with employees encouraged to pick up colleagues.
• Group Logistics function set up to drive efficiencies by Central planning and increasing our trade plater employees so that we have increased control over movements.

Journey to net zero

• Pathway set out by iOffset for our Journey to Net Zero
• 2022 saw us become a “Carbon Neutral Energy” company, as we offset our Scope 1 and 2 Emissions by deforestation prevention schemes
• Both schemes are Verra VCS Accredited - https://ioffset.io/partners/aston-barclay
• We have started our Scope 3 pathway by focussing on Employee Commuting and Business Travel.

Compliance and Sales

• All members of the HSEQ Team are IEMA Qualified and Internally qualified ISO14001 Auditors.
• Environmental Audits – added to our Internal Audit Programme for 2022, to help support our quest for ISO14001.
• ISO14001 – Stage 1 Audit Undertaken 14th July 2022 with BSI.
• Stage 2 Audit – started in January 2023. The duration is 7 days, across 3 sites.
• Proposing a “Green” focused sale with Santander in 2023. The focus will be planting up to 1000 trees as part of the sale. Both Santander UK and Aston Barclay partner with Net Zero Group for Carbon Offsetting.
• Supported World EV Day with a 60 vehicle EV Sale, including an electric Scooter. All the proceeds from the scooter were donated to the Ben Automotive Industry Charity.
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• Link to Podcast with Aston Barlcay and Mark Hammond – Founder of iOffset / Net Zero Group - How the motoring industry is working towards net zero - The Aston Barclay Podcast | Acast