Carbon Reduction Plan
Carbon Reduction Plan
At Groundhog, we set the standard and aspire to continuously improve. Already, today no one matches our safety, innovation, and service, yet we are striving to push further to develop top-quality welfare accommodation in a future with reduced carbon emissions.
We are deeply committed to addressing the global climate crisis. Aligning with the United Kingdom’s ambitious goal of achieving netzero carbon emissions by 2050, we recognise our role in contributing to this critical mission.
Many of our valued customers share these environmental ambitions and are actively working to reduce carbon emissions within their supply chains. As responsible suppliers, we are dedicated to providing the support they need to achieve these goals. Groundhog have taken a significant step towards understanding and reducing our environmental impact by producing an indicative initial carbon footprint for our products, the first being our GP360 Fusion Pulse mobile welfare unit.
Groundhog consistently receives awards in acknowledgment of our innovative range of welfare products. These accolades serve as testament to the company’s commitment to pushing boundaries and delivering an enhanced environmental solution with our carbon reducing welfare accommodation
Who was involved
Working in collaboration with the Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures at University of Sheffield, this marks the first phase in our efforts to develop a comprehensive set of environmental data that covers our entire product range.
This project was a collaborative effort, bringing together representatives from various functions within Groundhog.
To ensure the accuracy and credibility of our carbon footprint assessment, we also engaged an external expert. Our consultant Dr Gavin Milligan boasts years of practical experience in this field and teaches lifecycle assessments at leading UK universities.
What we've done
We have taken a significant step towards understanding and reducing our environmental impact by producing an indicative initial carbon footprint for four of our products, three models of our flagship GP360 single-axle mobile unit and the SWO7600 Fusion Pulse static unit. This marks the first phase in our efforts to develop a comprehensive set of environmental data that covers our entire product range.
Illustration shows an overview of GHG Protocol scopes and emissions across the value chain – source GHG
How we did it
In measuring our carbon footprint, we adhered to a rigorous process guided by the international standard ISO14067. To begin, we meticulously identified the specific emission scopes and categories that were relevant to our analysis, ensuring a clear focus.
We obtained information from our own records, suppliers and externally published sources
- This information covered purchased energy, materials and ancillary activities
- It isn’t always possible to find definitive information so we had to use the best we could find
- The best quality comes from direct measurements on the system being studied and those were used wherever possible
- We took information from utility bills for electricity, gas and water
- When we didn’t have primary data, we used equivalent measurements available from other studies
- Where we couldn’t find those secondary measurements, we used sensible estimates, again using other published data where we could
- When we couldn’t find any of those sources, we used other similar systems as proxies, taking good quality data published in other studies
Reviewing what goes into our
GP360 Eco Welfare
- Our dedicated operations team weighed each of the 200+ individual components that constitute our product, leaving no aspect unexamined.
- We also recorded the weight of the assembled body both before and after the painting process, shedding light on the impact of this stage on the product’s overall carbon footprint.
- Furthermore, we diligently assessed the weight of scrap and other waste materials, ensuring a holistic evaluation of our operations.
Through our meticulous and thorough approach, we obtained a comprehensive understanding of our carbon footprint, setting the stage for meaningful environmental improvements.
What comes next?
Our commitment to environmental responsibility doesn’t stop here. We are now focusing our efforts on identiying the carbon ‘hotspots’ in our value chain so that we can be sure that we are focusing on the key areas for carbon reduction.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the construction of the units, the most significant contributor to the embodied carbon in all of the units is steel, and we have instituted a project looking at three aspects of the steel we use: sourcing, design light-weighting and scrap reduction.
As well as improving our own performance, future stages in the project will see the assessment process rolled out to key suppliers in high-risk product categories.
An assessment of the carbon footprint of capital goods, which were excluded from the initial study, will be implemented in the new financial year. Collaborating closely with our suppliers, we aim to obtain higherquality data to enhance the accuracy of our carbon footprint analysis.
Implementing a new strategy
As part of our ongoing commitment to sustainability, we are exploring opportunities for increased remanufacture and the responsible management of end-of-life units.
In summary, we are developing a comprehensive plan for how we can achieve net zero in our operations.
