Hughes and Salvidge makes carbon history

Hughes and Salvidge, based in Portsmouth, UK, has become the first demolition contractor in the world to be certified to the Carbon Trust Standard for Carbon, This is an independent certification that recognises organisations that successfully measure, manage and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, demonstrating leadership in their industry by making real progress year-on-year.

The company, who last year celebrated its 50^th year in business, sought and achieved certification in the area of energy usage and greenhouse gas (CO2e) emissions through demonstrating an absolute reduction in carbon emissions across all its operations over the last three years.

Tony Jack, SHEQ manager at Hughes and Salvidge, said: “Over recent years at Hughes and Salvidge we have been working hard to reduce our carbon footprint. Our activities span from significant investments into the latest eco plant and equipment, right through to the small steps like raising employees’ awareness of the importance of fuel efficiency and promoting car and van share schemes.”

“In light of this, we applied to the Carbon Trust to become certified with them in the area of carbon reduction.”

Due to the nature of the demolition industry, accurately measuring the organisation’s carbon footprint, and then being able to demonstrate an absolute reduction, was not easy. The assessments carried out by the Carbon Trust consisted of both qualitative and quantitative appraisals.

Putting carbon accounting and carbon management procedures through this formal assessment process has proved invaluable in the carbon journey, guiding Hughes and Salvidge to develop its systems further and supporting it in identifying a structured path for future improvement.

Tony concluded: “Achieving this independent accreditation is a way of publicly recognising our organisation's achievements and providing tangible proof to employees, shareholders, as well as customers and suppliers, that we are committed to making future reductions.”