Sustainability statement

Climate change has a profound negative impact on our planet, affecting the environment, human health, and economies, so we’re committed to reducing our emissions and achieving net zero by 2050 by working in partnership with others to ensure that in all areas of our activities we can drive real and lasting positive environmental impacts.

Commitment to achieving Net Zero

Advanced Thinking Systems is committed to achieving Net Zero emissions by 2050.

Baseline emissions footprint

Baseline emissions are a record of the greenhouse gases that have been produced in the past and were produced prior to the introduction of any strategies to reduce emissions. Baseline emissions are the reference point against which emissions reduction can be measured.

Baseline year: 2023

• Scope 1
• 19.98 tCO2e
• Scope 2
• 8.17 tCO2e
• Scope 3
• Category 4 – Upstream transportation and distribution (107.92)
• Category 5 – Waste generated in operations (34.49)
• Category 6 – Business travel (5.15)
• Category 7 – Employee commuting (9.91)
• Category 9 – Downstream transport and distribution (63.25)
• Total – 248.87 tCO2e

We are continuously improving our data collection for scope 3 and spend-based methods as outlined in the GHG technical guidance for calculating scope 3 emissions, to use as the baseline year.

Current emissions reporting

Reporting year: 2024

• Scope 1
• 10.23 tCO2e
• Scope 2
• 10.34 tCO2e
• Scope 3
• Category 4 – Upstream transportation and distribution (125.98)
• Category 5 – Waste generated in operations (11.41)
• Increase due to old products coming to end-of-life and being recycled
• Category 6 – Business travel (3.11)
• Category 7 – Employee commuting (11.14)
• Category 9 – Downstream transport and distribution (65.51)
• Total – 237.72 tCO2e

Emissions reduction targets

In order to continue our progress to achieving Net Zero, we have adopted the following carbon reduction target:

• We project that carbon emissions will decrease over the next six years to 205.72 tCO2e by 2030. This is a reduction of 13.5%

Carbon reduction projects

Completed Carbon Reduction Initiatives

The following environmental management measures and projects have been completed or implemented since the 2023 baseline.

The carbon emission reduction achieved by these schemes equate to 11.15 tCO2e, a 4.5% reduction against the 2023 baseline.

• Sourced renewable energy for the head office has led to all our office energy requirements now being fueled by electric through Scottish Power’s green plan which is known as their renewables plan to supply our office using renewable sources only. Government figures released in 2018 show that electric heating is better for the environment than gas. From this information we have invested in renewable energy, plus a reduced reliance on coal-fired power stations. We use our energy predominantly for our office machines and our heating/cooling.
• Introduce employee incentives schemes to encourage to cycle to work with new showers installed at the office as well as hybrid working.
• Implementation of strict waste reduction policies – paperless, recycled IT equipment.
• Introduction of water coolers within the office to contribute to efficient distribution of drinking water. As well as reducing the need for staff bringing plastic water bottles into the office to reduce plastic waste.
• Increased repairs capacity meaning less electronic waste from inventory.
• Adding an electric car to our company fleet that will be exclusively used for visiting customer sites to reduce carbon emissions to contribute to a more sustainable future.
• Strong employee education and encouragement to the behaviour change in terms of individual carbon emissions and making better choices and decisions that have less impact on the environment.
• Our operations are aligned with the Environmental Management System ISO 14001 when working with manufacturing partners for our products.

In the future we hope to implement further measures such as:

• Promote and encourage our supply chain to use recycled IT equipment.
• Limit international travel and use the most fuel-effective airlines when needed.
• Establish carbon reduction targets within our supplier contracts by finding better ways to manage our freight for international shipments.
• Make all company fleet vehicles electric to reduce our carbon emissions by at least 50% annually.
• Conduct the analysis of our logistics partners and availability of green couriers.
• Increase of online business meetings where possible and promoting remote working to reduce mileage and lowering our carbon footprint.
• The aim to switching our electricity supply at the office by introducing solar panels being installed on the roof, becoming the only source of energy provided to the office for sustainability.
• Support charities with employee engagement days to plant trees across the UK to combat climate change.

Declaration and sign off

This Carbon Reduction Plan has been completed in accordance with PPN 06/21 and associated guidance and reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans.

Emissions have been reported and recorded in accordance with the published reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans and the GHG Reporting Protocol corporate standard and uses the appropriate Government emission conversion factors for greenhouse gas company reporting.

Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions have been reported in accordance with Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) requirements, and the required subset of Scope 3 emissions have been reported in accordance with the published reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans and the Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard3.

This Carbon Reduction Plan has been reviewed and signed off by the board of directors (or equivalent management body):

Spencer Clark - Managing director