Sustainability is at the centre of our work at ATG Group and part of our drive to have a positive environmental impact is to measure greenhouse gas emissions. 

For many years, we’ve been reducing CO2 emissions by diverting contaminated soil from landfills via our cutting-edge LockedIn® process. But that’s just the start of our work to reduce our company’s carbon footprint. 

We’re currently updating our environmental, social and governance (ESG) policy – and that adds extra benefits for our clients. Here, we’ll look at how our efforts to become carbon neutral will help the companies we work with. 

How we measure greenhouse gas emissions 

Over the coming weeks, we will be introducing new measures to report our greenhouse gas emissions. These will form our new ESG commitment in connection with our ISO 14001 environmental management system and will include measuring both direct and indirect carbon emissions. 

Both form three types of emissions as agreed in the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. The protocol is the world’s most widely used accounting standard for greenhouse gases. 

Our team will be measuring emissions using the protocol, which classes them as ‘scopes’ under the international procedure. Those scopes are separated into three areas that breakdown how our carbon footprint is created. 

Greenhouse gas scopes 

• Scope 1
  Scope 1 emissions are those that ATG Group owns or controls directly. This includes emissions from any petrol or diesel vehicles. Other Scope 1 emissions businesses might create include manufacturing or processing materials and chemicals, such as cement manufacturing. 

• Scope 2
  These emissions are caused indirectly by the company. For example, the electricity for use in our buildings falls into this category. This is because the emissions are generated elsewhere, such as power stations that we do not own. 

• Scope 3
  Scope 3 emissions are not produced by the company or are the result of activities from assets we control, or we own. Examples include travel by employees for business (such as on trains or in planes), commuting by our team or the transport of any waste materials. 

How we’re working to reduce our carbon footprint 

Reducing carbon emissions is at the core of our business. Through our new ESG commitment, we will be looking for new ways to reduce our carbon footprint. As a result of working with suppliers to measuring how our team travels, ATG Group is committed to reducing our carbon footprint. These efforts include: 

• Identifying the source and scale of our emissions. 

• Plans to identify opportunities to reduce carbon output. 

• Considering our business travel patterns include reducing the amount of unnecessary travel. 

• Engaging with our supply chain as part of measuring Scope 3 emissions and sharing ideas to reduce emissions. 

How will that help our clients offset carbon? 

Our land remediation services already reduce emissions. We are already passing these details on to our clients. We have already saved 1.3 million kilograms of emissions from our LockedIn® process. This has led to more than 250,000 tonnes of material being diverted from landfill.  

As well as reducing the need to throw away soil, the amount of CO2 emitted is drastically reduced as tipper lorries are not required to travel to and from site. It also leads to lower costs of transportation as well as buying aggregates. 

But that is just the start. As we monitor our CO2 footprint, we help our clients reduce theirs through our work. Our efforts reduce a client’s Scope 3 emissions, for example, as we continue to cut our emissions from their projects. 

We already have the tools to measure and report our client’s CO2 emissions from any work we carry out. By understanding where emissions have been reduced, our clients can accurately report their footprint. This is all part of ATG Group’s services and has been for some time. Having access to our enhanced ESG commitment will also mean our clients can accurately measure, understand and report their own footprint.  

Find out more about our ESG commitment 

Over the coming weeks, our new policy will be in place. If you would like to know more and how our clients benefit from our measures, then contact one of our team today.