Celebrating Toitū Carbon Reduction Certification
At Hill Labs, understanding and minimising our environmental impact is an important part of our business. Our sustainability efforts are focused on reducing our environmental impact and reflect our ongoing commitment to making consistent and gradual improvements.
These efforts recently culminated in achieving Toitū carbon reduction certification.
As a science-based organisation, we appreciate that Toitū Envirocare offers practical tools and evidence to help businesses measure and reduce emissions. We've adopted this approach, with a focus on gradually reducing our carbon footprint through changes in our operations.
As Hill Labs’ GM - Operations, Paul Sutherland stated, "We want to change the way we do our business and make that sustainable. That's more important to us than simply meeting regulatory requirements or achieving temporary improvements. We believe in creating lasting, meaningful change that ensures our operations benefit the environment and future generations.'"
Achieving Toitū certification required careful data collection across various aspects of Hill Labs' operations, including electricity, gas usage, waste, and travel emissions. The process also involved an audit by Toitū to ensure that our carbon footprint was accurately assessed.
Concrete Actions for a Sustainable Future
Part of Hill Labs’ efforts for real sustainable business change include collaboration with Future Post, a Kiwi-based company that provides sustainable recycling solutions for commercial waste plastics through their Recycling Advocate (RAd) Partnership Programme. We work with Future Post to repurpose packaging and other single-use plastics, plus we are actively transitioning from single-use plastics to reusable labware wherever possible.
Paul underscores the value of practical steps over intentions, stating, "We prioritise taking action by closely reviewing our waste management practices to find better ways to reduce what ends up in landfill."
Engaging the Workforce
One of the key drivers of our sustainability success has been the engagement of our employees. Hill Labs actively involves our staff in sustainability initiatives, from reducing paper usage to allowing employees to bring in their own personal flexible plastic waste for recycling at the lab.
According to Hill Labs’ Chief Financial Officer, Kirsty Holdaway, ‘Hill Labs’ sustainability efforts have resonated really strongly with employees, and staff surveys have indicated that they carry a sense of pride in our environmental actions and the fact that they can be involved.’
Although the Toitū framework focuses on carbon measurement, Hill Labs' sustainability strategy covers a broader range of efforts. The company is also committed to social sustainability, participating in community engagement programmes such as volunteer days and supporting local initiatives like Kids in Need collections. Kirsty notes, "Sustainability at Hill Labs goes beyond just the environmental aspect. It’s also about being a responsible member of our community."
Innovative Solutions and Future Goals
Looking ahead, we aim to keep exploring ways to make our business more sustainable. We're considering projects like reducing the gas used in certain processes and finding ways to lower the heat load from lab equipment to cut down on air conditioning. We're also encouraging sustainable commuting options for employees, including incentives for biking to work, and where possible, we’re adding electric vehicles to our fleet.
Hill Labs' Toitū certification reflects our ongoing commitment to improvement. We'll undergo annual audits as part of the certification to ensure we continue making progress in reducing our carbon footprint.
Paul explains, "We will be audited annually, so we have to calculate the data every year, to produce a report. Having an external agency doing the audit provides us with certainty and credibility so we can stand behind these numbers and say, someone else has looked at these and they’re the real deal."
Our aim is always to take a comprehensive and proactive approach to sustainability that reflects our commitment to continuous learning, tangible action, and leaving a better world for future generations. We look forward to seeing further evidence in our business as to the positive impact that our thoughtful, sustained efforts can achieve.
