Not content with dominating the world of digital entertainment, Sky is also determined to retain its position as best in class with regard to its environmental performance. The UK-based TV and Wi-Fi giant launched its “Fewer, Better, Bigger” plan in 2009, aimed at achieving more with fewer resources and boosting its eco-friendly credentials in the process.
The plan contained ten distinct targets geared towards having a reduced impact on the environment whilst simultaneously delivering a better product for a greater audience. Set against its 2008-09 baseline, the company is aiming to achieve all of the targets by 2020 and has outdone itself by already satisfying six of those goals. Here’s a rundown of the goals of the “Fewer, Better, Bigger” plan:
1) Halve emissions relative to revenue
By purchasing 100% of its electricity from renewable sources, offsetting unavoidable emissions through carbon credits and inspiring employees to practice their own environmentally-friendly behaviours, Sky has already surpassed this goal by achieving a 55% reduction in emissions relative to revenue.
2) Increase energy efficiency by an average of 20% across all buildings
Sky have pledged to achieve a “BREEAM Excellent” rating for all newly constructed buildings and operate a green IT policy across all of its offices, as well as invest £30 million into investigating new ways of achieving low-carbon emissions and improving energy efficiency.
3) Obtain 20% of energy for Sky-owned sites from renewables
Sky continue to invest in new onsite and offsite methods of renewable energy generation, including photovoltaic (PV) solar panels, wind farms and geothermal power plants.
4) Increase fleet fuel efficiency by 15%
Thanks to the installation of telematics software in its vehicles and its encouragement of fuel-efficient driving habits among its employees, along with its gradual deployment of electric vehicles (EVs) and low-carbon vehicles, Sky has already achieved a 15% increase in fleet fuel efficiency.
5) Achieve zero-waste to landfill at main offices
Through the simple environmental tenets of “reduce, reuse and recycle”, Sky achieved zero-waste to landfill at all of its main offices in 2016-17 – a full three years ahead of target.
6) Reduce CO2 emissions from business travel by 20% per full-time employee
By opting for video conferences rather than in-person meetings wherever possible and procuring low-emission company car vehicles, as well as using an environmentally-friendly low-emissions car service for employee journeys, Sky have almost doubly exceeded expectations on this target, reducing CO2 emissions by 39% per full-time employee.
7) Improve the sustainability of products year-on-year
Sky continue to reduce the use of natural resources and the consumption of energy in the creation of their projects and complied with their goal of removing all single-use plastics from their products by the end of 2018.
8) Reuse or recycle 100% of all Sky products returned to the company
Sky operate a policy whereby they are able to reuse or recycle every single Sky product that is sent back to them. They also strive to use as little packaging in the delivery of their products as possible and leave no waste at the home of the customer.
9) Help protect 1 billion trees in the Amazon rainforest
Founded in 2009, Sky Rainforest Rescue raised £9 million towards conservation initiatives, attracted over a million visitors to its UK rainforest events and engaged 1,500 Amazonian families in sustainable practices. Most importantly of all, it protected one billion trees in the project area.
10) Work with business partners to increase efficiency across all sectors
Sky continues to work with its key suppliers to develop new and innovative ways to reduce its environmental impact and increase transparency, thus cementing itself not only as a market leader in media and entertainment, but in ecology and conservation, as well
These are just 10 reasons why SKY are one of our biggest eco-inspirations. Find out more about our eco-friendly and ethical business here.
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