Stuck on “how” or “what next”? Theory rarely convinces people—examples do. And, so, our Blog is designed to make sustainability practical, not abstract.
Policies and targets can feel overwhelming. Our blog is designed to break them down into manageable steps—like reducing energy use, cutting waste, or rethinking supply chains—so businesses can actually act rather than stall. It shares real-world case studies – the biggest driver of action.
Based in Hampshire, UK Caldera is on a mission to make sustainable, zero-carbon heat accessible and affordable for industry. Leveraging patented technology that has captured attention from 12 sectors across 15 countries, they’re tackling one of the climate crisis’s most overlooked challenges: Industrial Heat.
Industrial heat remains one of the most stubborn challenges in the transition to net zero. Sectors such as food production, pharmaceuticals and brewing depend on steam for process heat, typically generated by gas-fired boilers. Globally, industrial heat accounts for roughly 20–25% of carbon emissions, with a large share required at temperatures between 100–200°C.
The difficulty is structural. Manufacturers must decarbonise while maintaining reliability and controlling costs. Electrification appears an obvious route, yet it introduces new constraints. Electric boilers consume power in real time, exposing operators to peak electricity prices and often requiring expensive grid upgrades. In parallel, grid capacity limitations can delay or prevent connection increases altogether. <!–more–>
Caldera, a UK-based clean technology company, has developed a system designed to address these constraints directly. Its Storage Boiler converts renewable electricity, whether on-site or from the grid, into stored heat that can be delivered as steam on demand. This decoupling of electrical charging from heat delivery is key to enabling cost-effective decarbonisation of industrial heat.
The system is built on three core technical innovations. First, a proprietary thermal storage material —a composite of volcanic rock and recycled aluminium delivers high thermal conductivity at low cost, enabling rapid charge and discharge. Second, a vacuum insulated storage vessel minimises heat loss, allowing energy to be stored at high temperatures for extended periods without large, site-built infrastructure.
Third, an integrated heat extraction system converts stored energy into steam efficiently and on demand, interfacing directly with existing industrial steam networks. These innovations are combined into a modular system comprising a Heat Cell, a heat exchanger connected to existing infrastructure, and a power and control system that manages charging. A typical configuration can store around 10 MWh of thermal energy and deliver 4 tonnes per hour of steam, with round-trip efficiency of 94%.
The practical implication is flexibility. Instead of purchasing electricity when steam is needed often during peak periods—operators can charge when electricity is cheaper. The system is designed to optimise against wholesale markets and time-varying grid charges, using spare grid capacity and increasingly frequent low- or zero price periods. Heat is then dispatched as required.
This has three immediate benefits:
1.Lower energy costs: shifting consumption away from peak electricity pricing
2.Reduced infrastructure requirements: avoiding or deferring grid upgrades
3.Greater system flexibility: enabling participation in balancing and capacity markets
The technology is designed for both retrofit and new-build scenarios. In existing facilities, Storage Boilers operate alongside gas boilers, reducing fossil fuel use while preserving redundancy. In new sites, they can be paired with high-temperature heat pumps to enable fully electric heat systems, removing the need for a gas connection.
Caldera’s impact is both environmental and economic, with results now evidenced in
real industrial use cases.
For customers, the system delivers three core outcomes:
1.Deep emissions reduction: enabling partial to full decarbonisation of industrial heat
2.Lower and more stable energy costs: through optimisation of electricity
purchasing
3.Capital efficiency: avoiding or deferring grid upgrades while improving project returns
In one near-term deployment, a customer has already electrified its lower- temperature heat using heat pumps. The remaining demand—high-temperature steam—will be fully decarbonised using a single Caldera Storage Boiler, enabling 100% electrification of site heat demand without requiring oversized grid connections or compromising operational reliability.
A UK food manufacturer combining a 5 MWp solar PV installation with thermal storage achieves a 27% reduction in imported energy, £0.7m annual energy cost savings, and a 4.4-year payback with £2.4m NPV. The storage system enables a larger, commercially viable solar array by allowing excess generation to be converted into process heat, rather than curtailed. The site operates five days per week, with further economic upside available under a seven-day operation.
While some sites integrate on-site renewables, the core value proposition does not depend on them. In most cases, value is driven by flexible grid charging—using low- cost electricity, avoiding peak tariffs, and capturing additional revenue from grid services.
What distinguishes this approach is system design. Industrial heat demand is continuous and variable, while electricity prices are increasingly volatile. Thermal storage bridgesthat mismatch, turning variable-cost electricity into predictable, dispatchable heat.
Decarbonising industrial heat has long been considered “hard to abate”. Alternatives such as hydrogen or carbon capture remain uncertain or location-specific. Thermal storage, by contrast, builds on established engineering and existing infrastructure. Caldera’s Storage Boiler does not change how industry uses heat. It changes how that heat is produced—combining flexibility, cost control and emissions reduction into a scalable pathway to zero-carbon industry.
Flowers are natural, so how bad can buying a bunch of flowers be? It’s a fair question but, despite being a natural product, the global cut flower industry is having a massive environmental and social impact on the planet
Globally, around 35 billion cut flower stems are sold every year, and in the UK the cut flower industry is worth £2.2 billion. Most flowers sold here (over 85%) are grown abroad, typically in countries like Kenya, Ecuador, Ethiopia and Columbia. They are cold-chain, air-freighted to The Netherlands before arriving by refrigerated truck to the UK. Growing cut flowers can have a huge carbon footprint. For comparison, an imported banana to the UK has a carbon footprint of 80g/CO2e whereas for a single rose stem it’s more likely to be around 1kg/CO2e.
Flowers, such as roses, are grown in high altitude, tropical areas, providing them with the perfect combination of year-round sunshine alongside cool night-time temperatures. The scale of these farms can be vast, with farms the size of Southampton not uncommon, and the largest farms equivalent to 900 football pitches. Farms are often situated in areas of high biodiversity value, in ecologically sensitive and drought prone regions. The water consumption for flower farms is enormous and there are well-documented examples, such as Lake Naivasha in Kenya, where water extraction for flower farms drastically depleted the water to surrounding communities and that water was severely polluted from the run-off of artificial fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides.
Less than 1% of global flower farms are Fair Trade certified, so the vast majority may operate with poor worker conditions, insufficient health and safety practices, and little or no regulation when it comes to chemical use. The pesticides routinely used can be those that are banned in the UK, and there is no upper limit set to the amount of pesticide residue permitted on flowers coming into this country. In France, 2022, a landmark case acknowledged the link of a child’s death to in utero pesticide exposure from her mother’s occupation as a florist. The health impacts of daily pesticide exposure for flower farm workers and the subsequent neurological impairment of their children is starting to become known.
MeadowSweet Posies is a multi-award winning sustainable online florist. Established in 2016, it’s the first ever flower subscription service to use exclusively British flowers and foliage throughout the year. A study by Lancaster University found that locally grown flowers have been found to have at least a 90% lower carbon footprint than air-freighted imported blooms, with British outdoor grown flowers to be 95% lower. In addition, locally grown flowers offer a gentle reminder of what is going on outside, celebrating the seasons and supporting local growers that grow seasonally using nature-friendly practices.
To date, MeadowSweet Posies has sent over 4000 bouquets of flowers to their eco-conscious customers. During the main growing season from March-October, the majority of flowers we use in our posies are outdoor grown and sent direct from the farm to our customers, minimising time in transit, and sent in plastic-free, eco-friendly packaging, using Royal Mail, the greenest parcel delivery service in the UK. In the winter months, we tend to use a higher proportion of flowers grown under glass, and we work with family farms that have incorporated a portfolio of environmental measures, such as waste agricultural biomass boilers for heating, rainwater re-harvesting for watering, solar for electricity, hedgerows and seed planting for birds and pollinators.
The approximate carbon footprint of an imported bouquet of 11 stems was calculated to be over 30kgCO2 from the Lancaster study, equivalent to a flight from London to Birmingham. Using the 90% lower carbon footprint as a conservative estimate, MeadowSweet Posies can demonstrate a saving of 108,000kg CO2 from its customers choosing to buy British grown flowers over imported flowers.
As a specific example, to reward its staff, a local financial planner company sent MeadowSweet posies to 25 staff members to thank them for their excellent work. Their decision to use MeadowSweet Posies aligned with their sustainability values and their desire to support a local women-founded business. Using the same calculation as previously, it can be shown that their purchasing decision reduced the associated carbon emissions of this purchase by 675kg/CO2 (approximately the equivalent emissions of a return flight from London to New York). In addition, they found the gesture was greatly appreciated by their staff who felt rewarded and valued and it helped to reinforce the positive working culture that the company has cultivated.
When it comes to assessing the environmental impact of an organisation, it is important to look beyond Scope 1 aspects, to the broader impacts of decision-makers. Purchasing decisions are an important consideration for an organisation’s Scope 3 impacts and to ensure there is alignment in the decisions made by employees alongside the values the organisation wishes to be represent.
Driving Value Through Sustainability
Silverlake Automotive Recycling has long been recognised as a forward-thinking leader in the vehicle recycling industry, but in recent years, the company has taken significant strides to embed sustainability at the heart of its operations. These efforts have not only reduced environmental impact, but have also delivered tangible business benefits by cutting costs, improving operational efficiency, and strengthening the company’s brand in an increasingly sustainability-conscious market.
At the core of Silverlake’s approach is a commitment to maximising resource recovery. By investing in advanced dismantling techniques and innovative recycling technologies, the company has significantly increased the proportion of each vehicle that can be reused or repurposed. This reduces waste sent to landfill while simultaneously creating new revenue streams from recovered parts and materials. Every component that is salvaged and resold represents both an environmental win and a financial gain, lowering disposal costs and boosting margins. Energy efficiency has also played a key role in cost reduction. Silverlake has implemented a range of initiatives across its sites, including energy-efficient lighting, optimised machinery usage, and the integration of renewable energy sources where possible. These measures have led to a noticeable decrease in energy consumption and utility costs. In an industry where margins can be tight and energy usage is significant, these savings provide a meaningful competitive advantage.
Operational efficiency has been further enhanced through digital transformation. By adopting smarter inventory management systems and streamlining logistics, Silverlake has improved the speed and accuracy of parts identification, storage, and distribution. This reduces handling time, minimises errors, and ensures that valuable components are brought to market more quickly.
The result is a more agile operation that can respond faster to customer demand while reducing unnecessary operational waste. Water management and pollution prevention initiatives have also contributed to efficiency gains. By implementing closed-loop systems and improving fluid recovery processes, Silverlake has reduced water usage and minimised the risk of environmental contamination. These measures not only support compliance with environmental regulations but also reduce the costs associated with water consumption and waste treatment.
Beyond operational improvements, Silverlake’s sustainability efforts have had a powerful impact
on its brand. Customers, partners, and insurers are increasingly prioritising environmentally responsible suppliers, and Silverlake’s proactive approach positions it as a trusted and progressive partner. By clearly demonstrating its commitment to sustainability, the company has strengthened relationships with key stakeholders and opened up new business opportunities. Transparency has been central to this brand-building effort. Silverlake actively communicates its
sustainability achievements, from recycling rates to carbon reduction initiatives, helping customers understand the positive impact of choosing recycled automotive parts. This not only
builds trust but also supports the broader shift towards a circular economy within the automotive
sector.
Employee engagement has been another important factor. By fostering a culture where sustainability is everyone’s responsibility, Silverlake has empowered its workforce to identify efficiencies and contribute ideas for continuous improvement. This has led to a more motivated team and a steady stream of incremental innovations that drive both environmental and business performance.
Ultimately, Silverlake Automotive Recycling demonstrates that sustainability is not just a moral imperative; it is a strategic advantage. By reducing costs, enhancing efficiency, and strengthening its reputation, the company has shown how environmental responsibility can go hand in hand with commercial success. As the industry continues to evolve, Silverlake’s approach provides a compelling model for how businesses can thrive by putting sustainability at the centre of their operations.
As businesses work towards ambitious sustainability targets, transport has emerged as one of the most immediate and impactful areas for change. Fleet emissions, fuel costs and environmental responsibility are no longer “nice to have” considerations; they are central to long-term business viability. At Snows Toyota and Lexus, we support organisations by turning those challenges into practical, lower-emission mobility solutions that reduce running costs and enable smarter, longer-term transport planning.
Practical Fleet Solutions for Local Businesses Toyota has long been recognised as a pioneer in low and zero emission mobility, and today offers one of the widest electrified model ranges available. This includes self-charging hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fully battery electric vehicles, allowing businesses to adopt a solution that fits their operational needs while still delivering measurable environmental benefits. A recent example of this can be seen in our work with the University of Portsmouth, where Snows Toyota supplied a fully electric vehicle fleet to support the University’s sustainability and carbon reduction goals. By transitioning to 100% electric vehicles, the University has: * Eliminated tailpipe emissions from its fleet * Reduced exposure to fluctuating fuel costs * Improved air quality across campus and surrounding areas * Demonstrated leadership in sustainable transport to students, staff and the wider community. The fleet now supports daily operational requirements while aligning transport usage with the University’s wider environmental strategy. This project highlights how electric vehicles are not a future concept, but a viable, cost-effective solution that is already delivering positive impact for organisations today. (Full case study available here: Snows Toyota parents with University of Portsmouth | Snows Lexus: Electrification Without Compromise Alongside Toyota, Lexus is redefining what sustainable mobility looks like for premium and executive users. Lexus has committed fully to an electrified lineup, combining zero emission driving capability with the comfort, refinement and reliability the brand is known for. The Lexus approach to sustainability extends well beyond the vehicle itself, guided by a 360 degree approach that looks at environmental impact across the entire lifecycle. Key elements of this approach include:
• A focused electrified model range, building on Lexus’s long-standing leadership in luxury hybrid technology.
• The use of sustainable and renewable materials, such as bamboo, kenaf and recycled plastics, within vehicle design and interiors
• A lifecycle approach that reduces emissions and waste from production through to end-of-life recycling, including second-life battery programmes.
For businesses, this translates into electric vehicles that support sustainability goals while delivering long-term value through lower running costs, reduced maintenance and responsible lifecycle management. Supporting Businesses at Every Stage of the Journey. We understand that every organisation is at a different stage of its sustainability journey. Whether you are taking your first steps towards electrification or transitioning an entire fleet, our expert teams at Snows Toyota and Lexus provide guidance on: * Choosing the right electrified vehicles for operational needs * Understanding real-world running costs and savings * Charging infrastructure considerations * Long-term sustainability and fleet planning.
Join Us at The Big Sustainability Expo
As exhibitors at The Big Sustainability Expo & Awards at the Utilita Bowl, we are proud to support organisations across the region in making meaningful, measurable progress towards their environmental goals. Visitors to our stand will be able to explore a wide range of Toyota and Lexus vehicles and speak directly with our experienced fleet team about tailored solutions for their business fleet. If your business is considering electrifying its fleet or reviewing its transport strategy, we invite you to speak with our team at the Expo or reach out to the Snows Toyota Corporate and Lexus Corporate teams to start the conversation today.
There was a time, not that long ago, when simply being able to say “we’re sustainable” gave you a bit of an edge. You could stick it on your homepage, maybe add a leafy icon or two, and people would nod along approvingly. Many would grab their wallet.
That time has passed.
Now it’s pretty much always expected, often scrutinised, and occasionally met with a scornfully raised eyebrow. Which is fair enough, given how many times we’ve all been told something is “eco-friendly” without any real explanation of what that actually means, or proof that it’s true.
So if sustainability is no longer a differentiator in its own right, the question becomes “how do you use it to build a competitive edge, rather than just blending into the ever-growing sea of green claims with varying degrees of plausibility?”
In my experience, it comes down to a handful of things that are surprisingly easy to get wrong.
1. If You’re Going to Say It, Be Ready to Provide Evidence
We’re now operating in a market where people are, quite rightly, a bit suspicious. There’s been enough vague language, sweeping claims, and selective storytelling to make even genuinely good work look questionable if it’s not backed up properly. So the bar is higher.
That doesn’t mean every sentence needs a footnote and a spreadsheet attached, but it does mean being specific about what you’ve done and how you’ve done it.
“We’ve reduced our environmental impact” could mean almost anything. “We cut energy use by 32% over 12 months by switching to X and Y” is far more useful and far more believable. There’s also something to be said for acknowledging where you’re not there yet. It sounds counterintuitive, but brands that are open about what they’re still figuring out often come across as more trustworthy than the ones presenting a perfectly polished version of reality. No one credible thinks this stuff is easy. Pretending it is doesn’t do you any favours.
2. Help People Picture the Impact Without Requiring a PhD
Numbers on their own are not your friend here. “10,000 tonnes of CO₂ saved” might be impressive, but it’s also fairly meaningless unless you already have a mental reference point for what that looks like. Most people don’t. This is where equivalents come in, and when they’re done well, they’re incredibly effective.
A nice example is Trainline, which shows the carbon saved from rail journeys in terms people can actually picture, like not using your washing machine for a couple of years. You don’t need to understand carbon accounting to grasp that. It’s immediate. It’s relatable. It sticks. The key is choosing comparisons your audience already understands, not ones that require another layer of explanation. If someone has to think too hard about your analogy, you’ve slightly defeated the point. The mistake is leading with impact in a way that assumes the audience will join the dots themselves. Most won’t. Not because they don’t care, but because they’re busy and you haven’t made it easy. Your job is to do that translation for them.
3. Pick Your Proof Carefully
One of the quickest ways to weaken your brand is to try to prove your sustainability credentials with everything available to you. Partnerships, certifications, memberships, schemes, internal programme logos…I’ve seen websites that look like the sponsor wall at a conference, and I say that with love and frustration in equal measure. The problem is, not all of those signals carry weight with your audience. The question I
always ask clients is: which of these would your customer actually recognise, understand, and trust? Because those are the only ones that really matter. If you’re selling into corporates, things like science-based targets or recognised ESG frameworks will land far better than a generic “green business” badge you got because you paid the membership fees. If you’re consumer-facing, something like B Corp might do a lot more heavy lifting because people have at least heard of it, even if they couldn’t recite the criteria over dinner. This isn’t about collecting credentials; it’s about choosing the ones that signal something meaningful to the people you want to influence. Otherwise, you’re just decorating your marketing with things that make you feel good internally but don’t actually signify anything meaningful externally.
4. Being Good Isn’t Enough. You Still Have to Make It Make Sense
There’s a persistent belief in sustainability circles that if you’re doing the right thing, people will naturally care. That the work will speak for itself. That being ethical, responsible, and impactful should be enough to earn attention, support, and, ultimately, cold hard cash. It’s a nice idea. It’s also not how most decisions get made. Doing good work is essential, obviously. That’s the whole point. But on its own, it doesn’t
guarantee that anyone will notice, understand, or back it. Because whether we like it or not, your audience is always asking a version of the same question:
“What’s in it for me?”
That doesn’t make them selfish. It makes them human.
Sometimes the answer is straightforward. If your solution saves money, improves performance, reduces risk, or helps someone hit a target they’re being measured against, say that. Clearly and early on. Sometimes it’s a softer payoff. It might make them look better, help them attract and retain talent, or give them a story they’re proud to tell. And sometimes, yes, it’s simply that they get to feel like they’re doing the right thing without having to overhaul their entire world. There’s nothing wrong with that, despite how often people try to pretend otherwise.
The problem is assuming that stating what a wonderful thing you’re doing will be enough to move people from polite interest to actual action. Because it won’t. If you’re selling into organisations, particularly larger ones, sustainability on its own might get you a conversation. It might get you a meeting. But it won’t always get you budget. That’s because the person you ultimately need to convince is often looking at things through a different lens. And the same is true, in a slightly less formal way, for most consumers as well.
So alongside “this is better for the planet,” you also need to be able to say:
● This will save you money
● This will do a better job
● This will reduce your risk
● This will make your life easier
None of that undermines the environmental impact. It makes it easier to adopt. In a B2B context, you’re selling to CFOs as well as CSOs. In a consumer context, you’re dealing with a whole mix of motivations, rational and emotional, all competing for attention. If you can make your sustainability proposition stack up commercially as well as ethically, you move people from “that’s nice” to “we should get on and do that.”
And, slightly controversially, if you can’t… it probably won’t.
5. Consistency Is Less Glamorous Than Campaigns, But Far More Useful
There’s a tendency to treat sustainability comms as something that lives in a campaign or a report. You do a big push, everyone feels good about it, and then it slinks off into the sunset until next year. In reality, your brand is being built (or eroded) in all the small, everyday places.
Your marketing materials.
Your customer care emails.
The way your teams talk about what you do.
If your sustainability story only shows up occasionally, it’s very hard for people to get a clear sense of what you stand for. If it shows up consistently, in a way that makes sense and feels coherent, it becomes part of how you’re understood. It’s not particularly glamorous work, but it’s where a lot of the heavy lifting happens.
Final Thought
Touting sustainability as a general concept won’t give you a competitive edge anymore. Plenty of organisations can say they’re doing the right thing in one way or another. What makes the difference is how clearly you can show it, how relevant you can make it, and how confident you are in talking about it without tying yourself in knots. The organisations that get this right tend to be the ones that are:
-Selective about how they prove what they’re doing
-Very clear about why it matters to their audience
-Comfortable backing up what they say and not afraid to connect impact with income
Because in the end, the goal isn’t just to be sustainable. It’s to build something strong enough, visible enough, and well-supported enough to make that sustainability actually count.
CONGRATULATIONS to Tops Day Nurseries, who are proud to announce that it has been awarded the prestigious King’s Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development, recognising its continued commitment to environmental responsibility and innovation across its nurseries.
This marks the second time Tops has received this honour, having previously been awarded in 2022, further reinforcing its position as a leader in sustainable childcare. With over 30 nurseries across the South and Southwest, Tops Day Nurseries has embedded sustainability into every aspect of its operations. From reducing waste and energy consumption to introducing innovative solutions such as installing SNOAP across all settings, a plastic-free handwashing system, and adopting sustainable food practices, including the introduction of plant-based menus, the organisation continues to set new standards within the early years sector.
Initiatives such as early toilet training and the use of reusable nappies also contribute to reducing nappy waste, supporting both environmental goals and child development. Through early potty teaching, using reusable nappies and potty pants, Tops supports children once they can sit independently, contributing to an average reduction of around eight months in the
age children become toilet trained. Sandy Kemish, Data and Sustainability Manager, said: “Winning the King’s Award for
Sustainable Development is a powerful recognition that sustainability in early years education truly matters. At Tops Day Nurseries, we believe small, consistent actions, whether reducing waste, growing food, or teaching children about the world around them, create meaningful change. This award celebrates the collective impact of those actions across all our nurseries.
Every day, our teams find practical, creative ways to make sustainability part of children’s learning and daily routines. We’re proud that our commitment to doing the right thing, for children, families, and the planet, has been recognised at the highest level, but it also highlights the need for greater support across the early years sector, so that sustainable, high-quality childcare can thrive for every child and community”.
The King’s Awards for Enterprise are among the UK’s most prestigious business awards, celebrating outstanding achievement in innovation, international trade, sustainable development, and promoting opportunity through social mobility. Tops Day Nurseries continues to lead the way in sustainable early years education, demonstrating how businesses can successfully balance high-quality childcare with environmental responsibility.
CJS Portsmouth proudly partners with Northwood Hygiene to promote sustainability in everyday practices. By choosing these solutions, businesses can contribute significantly to a greener future while maintaining high-quality service. At Northwood Hygiene, sustainability is built into the way products are designed, manufactured and recovered, helping facilities managers and sustainability professionals make measurable progress towards their environmental goals through practical, real-world solutions.
Circular Solutions
Northwood’s recycled tissue manufacturing model is built around circularity, resource efficiency and UK production. By integrating recycling, papermaking and converting operations within the UK, Northwood is able to keep valuable fibres in use for longer, reducing reliance on virgin raw materials while supporting a more resilient domestic supply chain.
Circularity is central to this approach. Rather than viewing paper hygiene products as waste, Northwood focuses on extending fibre life and recovering materials wherever possible. This thinking sits behind Green Loop™, Northwood’s closed-loop recycling scheme designed specifically for washroom waste. Traditionally, used paper hand towels would be disposed of via landfill or incineration, despite fibres still retaining recyclable value. Through Green Loop, used towels are collected, returned to Northwood and reprocessed into new paper hygiene products, keeping fibres within the value chain for longer.
Importantly, Green Loop has been designed to fit seamlessly into existing washroom operations, allowing organisations to adopt circular economy principles without compromising hygiene or user experience. Internal ISO-aligned lifecycle assessment data shows that recycling paper hand towels through Green Loop can reduce carbon impact by 38%compared with traditional disposal routes, giving businesses measurable environmental benefits alongside improved waste management.
Supporting Scope 3 Carbon Reductions
Alongside circularity, transparency is becoming increasingly important for sustainability professionals and procurement teams. Organisations are now expected to demonstrate credible environmental progress, particularly in relation to Scope 3 emissions and ESG reporting. To support this, Northwood has implemented ISO 14067 verified Product Carbon Footprints (PCFs) across its portfolio, providing independently verified data to help customers make informed purchasing decisions.
This level of visibility enables facilities and sustainability teams to better understand the environmental impact of the products they use every day. It also reflects Northwood’s ongoing investment in operational efficiency and carbon reduction. For example, sustainability improvements implemented across the business reduced the carbon footprint of the Raphael VersaTwin 2-ply recycled tissue by 9% over the last 12 months alone.
Controlling Consumption
The Raphael washroom system itself demonstrates how sustainable innovation can directly influence consumption behaviour and operational efficiency. Designed to minimise unnecessary usage while maintaining hygiene and performance, Raphael combines smart dispensing technology with recycled paper solutions to reduce waste at source. Features such as single-sheet dispensing in the Mechanical Roll Towel dispenser and controlled delivery and infinity feature in the VersaTwin Toilet Tissue systems help reduce overconsumption and waste, extend product life and lower refill frequency, supporting both environmental and operational efficiencies. By controlling consumption, reducing waste and supporting lower-carbon product choices, Raphael provides facilities managers with a practical sustainability solution that delivers measurable results in everyday washroom environments.
For Northwood, sustainability is not simply about reducing impact in manufacturing. It is about helping customers solve increasingly complex environmental challenges through circular thinking, verified data and practical innovation that works in the real world
The University of Southampton Science Park is collaborating with Absolar and Technology Within on an ingenious initiative to enhance the resilience and sustainability of mission-critical infrastructure.
The project will see a conventional diesel-run backup power generator replaced with a significantly more sustainable solution that cleverly integrates on-site solar generation, battery storage and grid connectivity. By integrating multiple energy sources, this will deliver a lower-carbon approach to supporting critical infrastructure, removing dependency on fossil fuels for the site-wide back-up system and avoiding generator start-up during short-term power interruptions, as Absolar’s Nic Cory explains.
The work will take place at Gamma House in the centre of the Science Park site and will benefit its whole community of over one thousand people working at the Park who depend upon smooth-running, resilient IT systems. The new back-up power system is expected to be fully operational this month.
Back-up power is essential for all business continuity, yet projects of this nature remain relatively uncommon due to their technical complexity and the investment required to deliver effective systems that meet both operational requirements and wider ESG objectives.
This complex project has only been made possible through deep collaborative work with experts in renewables, data science, IT and physical infrastructure.
Stuart Perry, Operations Director at Southampton Science Park, said: “This is another practical example of how we are investing in forward-thinking, creative solutions to move away from fossil fuels. Once complete, our new back-up power system will further support operational resilience for our resident community of science and technology businesses and in a more sustainable way.”
Phil Wu, Founder and CEO of Absolar, said: “We have been working with Southampton Science Park to plan and implement effective renewable energy solutions across the site for several years and we are proud to continue this work through this innovative project. Integrated battery-backed resilience systems are uncommon in commercial sites, yet they offer an attractive flexible and lower-carbon approach. We applaud Southampton Science Park for taking the lead on this and helping to demonstrate what can be achieved.”
Jon Seal, Managing Director, technologywithin said: “Through twiindata, we support Southampton Science Park in managing and maintaining high-performance connectivity for its residents who depend on being online at all times. However, great connectivity needs resilient infrastructure underpinning it and that’s why a project like this one matters. It will strengthen the foundations upon which reliable, high-performance connectivity depends on.”
When businesses see how others have reduced costs, improved efficiency, or strengthened their brand through sustainable practices, it builds confidence to follow suit. It saves time and reduces trial-and-error. Instead of every company reinventing the wheel, our blog aims to act as a knowledge hub. Lessons learned, mistakes, and proven strategies are shared openly, helping others move faster and avoid costly missteps. It keeps businesses up to date. Sustainability is constantly evolving—new regulations, technologies, and expectations emerge quickly. The blog is designed to help organisations stay informed without needing to track everything themselves. It links sustainability to business value Done well, content can show how sustainability practices aren’t just ethical—they’re financially smart. Lower energy bills, reduced waste costs, stronger reputation, and better resilience all come into play. It builds a community and culture of change The blog creates a shared space where businesses, partners, and stakeholders can engage, learn, and contribute. That sense of momentum is often what turns isolated efforts into broader impact. In short, our Sustainability Blog turns sustainability from a buzzword into a toolkit—full of ideas, examples, and evidence that help businesses move from intention to implementation.
