Sustainability Newsletter - March 2024

Planet

Say hello to sustainable pallet wrap In February, we officially launched our new sustainable pallet wrap following a two-year development period. Made from coated polyester mesh and polyester webbing, the pallet wrap can be reused up to 1,000 times, reducing our waste by up to seven tonnes annually. This saving of plastic waste is roughly equivalent to the weight of four cars and will also reduce our total emissions due to less empty vans on the road. To create the wrap, we partnered with brake supplier, TMD Friction, and have since rolled it out across our mutual supply chain to great success. This is the first time a reusable pallet wrap has been developed within our industry and we hope to introduce it to our wider supply chain in due course. As the scheme grows in the UK, TMD also anticipate the wrap will be extended to their European distribution centre in Romania so more countries can move towards a greener method of distributing parts to their customers.

Made from coated polyester mesh and polyester webbing, the pallet wrap can be reused up to 1,000 times, reducing

our waste by up to seven tonnes annually.

Global Recycling Day 2024 Both at work and at home, there are a numberof small changes you can make to increase your recycling levels and as part of Global Recycling Day in March, we shared our favourite five sustainable switches with colleagues: • Bring in your own water battle to top up at our water fountains rather than buying a plastic bottle • Use mugs and cups for tea and coffee rather than disposable paper cups • If you have to print a document, only print in black and white and use both sides of the paper • Instead of throwing away food waste, join sites such as Olio to give away excess food • Recycle your old toothpaste tubes, toothbrushes and electric toothbrush heads at your local dentist

Water good idea As part of our commitment to sustainability, we continuously review where we can make a difference and have decided to transition away from single-use water bottles by installing water stations in our branches. This is a great step to reduce our environmental footprint and we’re asking all colleagues to use reusable water bottles to support this initiative, as it not only helps reduce plastic waste but also promotes sustainability within our workplace. Last year, we purchased over 213,432 bottles of water across the network. With your help, we can now remove this single use plastic. Thanks for your support.

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6 | April 2024