J Redpath Buchanan & Co Ltd Environmental & Sustainability Policy

This policy statement sets out our environmental and sustainability commitments. It has been endorsed by the Board of Directors and is consistent with our statutory policies.

It is underpinned by the commitment of the Board of Directors, Departmental Managers, Construction and Office Staff who aim to reduce harmful impact on the environment.

Everyone working for Redpath Buchanan or on our behalf is urged to support this statement.

This policy statement updates and replaces all previous statements. It will be reviewed regularly by the Board of Directors and, if necessary, a revised version will be issued to reflect the latest developments. The Board of Directors will communicate this policy and any developments in an appropriate and effective way.

1. Introduction

Organisations of all kinds are, increasingly, determined to achieve and demonstrate sound environmental performance by controlling the impact on the environment of their activities, products and services. They do so in the context of growing environmental awareness, increasingly stringent legislation and other factors promoting environmental protection and best practice.

Redpath Buchanan is concerned about the environment and recognises that good environmental management must be an integral and fundamental part of our business strategy, we aim to integrate sustainability considerations into all our business decisions.

2. Scope of Policy Statement

This statement applies to all parts of Redpath Buchanan. It covers all buildings, goods and services used and provided and everyone working for us. It covers the immediate impacts of our activities and policies.

3. Environmental Commitments

This policy supports the United Kingdom's strategy for sustainable development. It sets out a programme of continuous improvement to reduce the harmful impacts of our operations on the environment and to prevent pollution.

In the course of our operations and within resource constraints, we will improve our environmental performance by:

Resources

Conserving energy, water, wood, paper and other resources, particularly those which are scarce or non renewable, while still providing a safe and comfortable working environment;
Reducing waste through re-use and recycling and by using refurbished and recycled products and materials where such alternatives are economical and suitable;
Ensuring that any products used or derived from wildlife, such as timber and plants, are from sustainable sources, and comply with EU and international trading rules such as CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species);

Pollution

Monitoring relevant discharges and emissions to air, land and water to assess what action is necessary to reduce pollution or the risk of pollution;
Phasing out, where practical, ozone depleting substances and minimising the release of greenhouse gases, volatile organic compounds, vehicle emissions and other substances damaging to health and the environment;

Management - Regulations

Meeting, and in some cases exceeding, all relevant, current and foreseen statutory regulations (including the Environmental Information Regulations), official codes of practice and other requirements that we adopt; specifying contractors do the same when working on our premises; developing and maintaining, emergency procedures for effectively dealing with significant hazards where they exist and limiting the risk to health and the environment;

Management - Communication

Communicating openly with staff; educating, training and motivating our colleagues, and relevant others, to encourage them to support our environmental programmes and jointly develop new ideas and initiatives;
Responding appropriately to reasonable external requests for environmental information;

Management - Purchasing

Encouraging manufacturers, suppliers and contractors through our contracts and other means to improve or develop environmentally preferable goods and services at competitive prices;

Management - Estates

Ensuring, where practicable, that our contracts & services are designed, constructed and operated to optimise their environmental performance;

Management - Environment

Demonstrating that, where relevant, environmental issues are considered when making decisions, planning and developing policy, programmes and projects;
Monitoring progress against the environmental aim and other indicators and producing a regular report for internal and external consumption.

Immediate Control Measures

All employees are urged to operate good practice with regard to environmental issues, these simple measures include,

Using Low energy light bulbs
Using Eco-friendly alternatives to cleaning products
Using toilet paper manufactured from re-cycled paper
Ensure that all unwanted light bulbs are switched off when not required

Avoid overfilling kettles
Avoid use of Aerosols
Recycle all waste paper
Reject any purchased items that contain ozone depleting agents

Training

Resources will be allocated to ensure adequate training provision is made to ensure that all staff are made aware of their environmental commitments.

Auditing

A management review meeting will take place once a year to ensure that this policy is still relevant and covers all relevant legislation. An internal audit will take place annually to ensure that our environmental commitment is being correctly undertaken

Mary Grant
Director
J Redpath Buchanan & Co Ltd
27 January 2012