One of the United Kingdom’s largest retailers, Autoglass®, is implementing sustainability initiatives in 2022 to reduce the company’s carbon footprint. The COP26 climate summit in 2021 encouraged fleet-owning businesses to commit to a fully zero-emission fleet by 2030, a company statement says. The United Kingdom seeks to secure global net zero by the middle of the century.
Autoglass®, which is owned by Belron, launched initiatives in the past 12 months, and in 2021 sourced 100% of its electricity from zero-carbon, renewable sources. The company recycles 100% of the damaged glass product in windscreens, turning the waste glass into recycled objects such as glass bottles.
“As a business in the automotive repair industry, we take our responsibility to reduce our environmental impact very seriously,” says Taxiarchis Konstantopoulos, the company’s managing director. “All businesses can play a vital role in addressing the environmental challenge we face, and we want to be a positive influence in demonstrating how businesses can be a force for change.”
Konstantopoulos says that no one business can solve the climate crisis on its own. Companies need to work together to limit the supply chain’s impact on the environment. “We work with our suppliers to ensure they are operating as sustainably as possible and take great care when considering which new suppliers to work with,” he says. “Our commitment to ensure we are environmentally sustainable stems from our culture, which is centered on caring about the communities we operate in. The climate crisis impacts us all, and we all need to do our part to tackle this issue.”
The company’s ultimate hope by obtaining sustainability is in its purpose: “Making a Difference with Real Care,” he adds. “The climate crisis is something which will impact us all, and we want to play a part in tackling this issue and making a real difference. We want to deliver sustainable products and services for our customers which also reduces our impact on the environment; reducing waste and building a circular economy and driving down our emissions year on year as we move towards net-zero.”
The company recently changed its glass waste recycling supplier from a Belgium company to a company based in the United Kingdom. “This shorter journey represents a reduction of 34,264 kilograms of C02 emissions per year, which is the equivalent of driving 84,811 miles per year in a typical car or driving the entire circumference of the UK 18 times,” Konstantopoulos says. Electric vehicle transformation is high on the company’s priority list, he says, and 20% of its company fleet are electric, with a hope of achieving 25% in the next year.
