The Topps Group has a long history of considering its environmental impact. In 2004, we established the first working group on environmental protection. In 2010, we established a cooperation with the Carbon Trust organization, implementing the modernization of energy-saving lighting, which we improve year after year. and in 2013 we started reporting carbon dioxide emissions in our Annual Report, providing investors with a key indicator to assess the Group's environmental performance. However, the severity of the global climate crisis is increasing and the demands on all companies to do much more to reduce their environmental impact are clear. Thus, in recent years, the Topps Group has been accelerating the implementation of its pro-ecological activities. In 2019, we established the Sustainability Board, a cross-functional committee chaired by our CEO Rob Parker to align our business with a low-carbon model. In 2021, five years ahead of schedule, we have placed environmental leadership at the heart of the Topps Group's core strategy and set the ambitious goal of achieving carbon neutrality in Sites 1 and 2 by 2030, five years ahead of schedule. retail industry. This year, we are delighted that our business activities are carbon sustainable – it was the first Group division to achieve this milestone. Other improvements include the addition of electric vehicle chargers at our headquarters and the refurbishment of our commercial fleet with more efficient and less polluting vehicles, which combined with better driver training and the latest route planning software has resulted in our fleet consumed 6% less fuel than it did in 2018 last year (despite driving 2.1% more miles). Carbon emissions per warehouse were reduced by 35.4% year-on-year as a result of the Group's transition to renewable energy in 2022. We believe Scope 3 emissions are much higher than Scope 1 and 2 , although they are more difficult to monitor and impact. Therefore, from 2024 onwards, we will report the Group's emissions in Scope 3. In 2022, we added the second pillar of our environmental leadership strategy: supporting circularity. That's why we've joined the UK WRAP Plastics Compact, committing to phase out non-recyclable plastic packaging, and started promoting recycled content in products at point of sale, both online and in stores, to help consumers consumers to become environmentally conscious choices. We have transformed the five elements of our 2021 environmental leadership strategy into two main pillars, which are managed by the Sustainability Board under the leadership of the management team. These are:
- Achieving a carbon balance (Scope 1 and 2)
• Minimize your current carbon footprint as much as possible
• Benefit from verifiable, high-quality carbon offsets to balance the balance by 2030 - support circularity
•Work with partners to minimize waste and manage the rest responsibly, with a focus on recycling
•Promote innovation to increase the use of recycled and recyclable materials in tiles, related products and packaging (e.g. through Plastic Pact UK)
SUSTAINABLE COAL WITH GLOBAL EARTH TRUST
Parkside's partnership with the World Land Trust has become a key part of our Group-wide environmental leadership strategy, which has already protected over 335,000 square meters of biodiversity habitat through the 40 by 40 programme.
This is a 40 cent donation to the Trust's Buy An Acre program to protect natural habitats, for every square foot of tiles sold with over 40% recycled content - currently available in over 40 ranges of tiles.
Parkside also achieved carbon-balanced status under the World Land Trust (WLT) earlier this year.
During the intensive analysis phase, WLT investigated emissions caused by Parkside's day-to-day operations. This included calculating energy consumption in our offices and design studios, greenhouse gas emissions from the company fleet, product delivery, sampling and much more. Thanks to work already done to adopt better environmental practices, total annual greenhouse gas emissions were measured at 405 tons.
These emissions are now offset by protecting carbon-rich habitats through the World Land Trust's Carbon Balanced programme.
Carbon Balanced is a unique program that uses REDD+ projects (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) to protect areas of high biodiversity threatened by human activities. Since its launch, supporters of the Carbon Balanced scheme have offset over 610,000 tonnes of carbon emissions and secured over £2.5m in funding. As the planet warms, protecting standing forests not only encourages native species, but also absorbs future CO2 emissions. We support WLT biodiversity projects in Ecuador, Mexico and Vietnam.
Parkside Carbon Balanced status underscores our commitment to supporting a more sustainable future for insert specifications. We do this by contributing to a sustainable society through partnerships with organizations like WLT and through continuous improvement and innovation in cladding and installation solutions.
1. Carbon balance by 2030 (TABLES 1 and 2)
CALCULATION OF OUR CARBON EMISSIONS
By continuing to work with the World Land Trust, we are expanding our understanding of Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions and where they can be reduced. This will help us better prioritize and plan our carbon reduction and offset journey. An action plan with detailed reduction and compensation targets will be published next year to guide the Group towards the 2030 net balance target. However, real estate, transport and finance initiatives will continue to support our efforts to reduce Scopes 1 and 2.
Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions have been reduced by 3,100 tonnes in 2022 to just 4,800 tonnes. For comparison purposes, in 2021, a total of 7,940 tons were carried out.
Our main energy consumption is the electricity and natural gas used in our store. Electricity is primarily needed for store lighting, and the significant reduction in 2021 reflects our transition to 100% renewable energy, as well as the impact of the ongoing upgrade to LED lighting. We mainly use natural gas for heating in our stores, and the reduction in 2021 is due to the reduction of store chains in this period. Detailed data on greenhouse gas emissions from the commercial fleet and company cars can be found in the Transportation and Company Vehicles section below.
PROPERTY
We are constantly looking for new ways to reduce our property's carbon footprint, focusing on energy efficiency and targeted reuse of display components.
In 2022, we completed the installation of LED lighting in all stores (except strategic stores) and continue to explore other lighting options to reduce overall consumption.
Most of our stores have smart automatic energy meters installed, allowing us to accurately monitor and analyze gas and electricity consumption, and we are currently developing data-driven initiatives to support stores in reducing energy consumption through a Smarter system operation.
Supporting the Group's commitment to a greener vehicle fleet, we have installed “Super Fast Electric Vehicle Chargers” at our Grove Park facility.
Our first solar shop in Guildford will open in the new financial year. We also committed to installing solar power systems in both warehouses at our Grove Park distribution facility, which are estimated to generate a total of 340,000 kWh of electricity per year, reducing reliance on grid-supplied electricity.
Any fixtures from recent store closures were reused in existing store display designs and this is now part of all new store designs in the design phase.
TRANSPORT AND COMPANY VEHICLES
In 2022, our transport fleet (including subcontractor services) covered a total of 3.80 million kilometers, consuming 1.17 million liters of fuel, which corresponds to the distance traveled by 22.8% with a reduction of fuel consumption by 6.4%.
This can be attributed to new and more efficient vehicles introduced mid-year, driver training and the implementation of modern route planning systems in late 2021. Most of our fleet of vehicles are equipped with the latest engines Euro 6, which provide excellent fuel. consumption statistics and reduce the amount of fuel needed by our fleet.
This year, we also introduced a liquefied natural gas (LNG) vehicle to our fleet, which will also help reduce emissions. Around half of our drivers have been hired in the last 12 months - each driver goes through a comprehensive induction period that includes a great deal of time behind the wheel with our driver coach. This means they are in the best position to drive our vehicles most efficiently from the moment they start driving themselves.
Our plans for the coming year include extending Driver Educator skills to our current Drivers – using our telematics to identify areas where drivers need additional training. Our new route planning system has allowed us to shorten the distances traveled by optimizing routes, which results in lower fuel consumption.
We are aware that in some areas the ability to reduce emissions is limited by the pace of technological progress. For example, there is currently still uncertainty as to a viable alternative to fossil fuels for heavy goods vehicles. Our long-term strategy in these cases is to continue to invest in the latest technologies and consider coverage controls when reduction is not possible.
As part of our supply chain strategy, we want to experiment with a fueling center that reduces the last kilometer distance and opens up the possibility of using alternative fuels such as electricity.
Company cars leased across the organization to sales and support personnel also contribute to Field 1 emissions. Of these, 10% are hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and another 5% are electric vehicles (EVs). We are encouraging the gradual replacement of our remaining internal combustion engine vehicles with electric vehicles, introducing a new fleet operator with more knowledge and choice of electric vehicles, as well as the installation of electric vehicle charging points at our headquarters in Leicester . This, combined with continued improvements in fuel efficiency, will help reduce Scope 1 emissions for years to come. We are pleased to announce that, at the time of writing, a further 5% of vehicles ordered by our company will be replaced by electric vehicles.
2. SUPPORT TO THE MOVEMENT
TRANSMISSION SCOPE 3
Although the Group is not directly responsible for Scope 3 emissions, we can support emission reductions in the supply chain through our purchasing volume, supplier relationships and consumer market share. Our purchasing teams understand the importance of supporting sustainable innovation, leveraging an extensive network of suppliers to offer customers a wider choice of green products. This will help encourage the industry to invest more in such products.
RESPONSIBLE WASTE MANAGEMENT
To achieve our circular vision, we take steps to reduce waste and ensure that waste that cannot be reduced is reused or recycled.
WASTE REDUCTION
As part of our cooperation with Commercial, in August 2022 we introduced a new range of cleaning agents in our retail stores. Includes five reusable bottles (glass cleaner, bathroom cleaner, kitchen cleaner, etc.), which can be refilled into dissolvable sachets. This change will mean that our store teams are no longer ordering replacement bottles, but are only ordering sachets, saving a total of 3,600 plastic bottles (0.5 tonnes of plastic) across our store.
RECYCLING
We work with Acorn Recyclers to manage the recycling of our packaging waste. Packaging waste is collected from our network of stores using our own transport fleet and sorted centrally at our warehouse in Leicester. We can then deliver it to Acorn, located 40km from our warehouse, for reprocessing with minimal transport emissions. From 2022 to date, we have recycled 40 tons of cardboard, 36 tons of polyethylene and, as part of a recently launched initiative, 5 tons of plastic pallets. At Acorn, this material is hand-selected to remove any impurities, washed, dried, then palletized (or baled) for use in closed-loop and open-loop examples, and then recycled into finished products such as litter and cardboard.
We also centrally collect waste tiles, adhesives and grout from our stores, which we then transfer to specialized recycling after decommissioning. We work with Green4Life to recycle damaged tiles into aggregates for use in the construction industry. We are proud to have recycled 97% of this waste stream in 2022, a more than triple increase compared to the previous year.
UK. ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC WASTE (WEEE) REGULATIONS
WEEE regulations were introduced in 2007 to reduce the amount of electrical and electronic equipment going to landfill. Our stores offer an equal return service, where customers can return their old product, regardless of the original supplier and date of purchase, at any store when purchasing a new one. These electrical products are then collected at our distribution center and sent for recycling.
ROUND PACKAGING
For materials to be recycled, they must first be recyclable. Therefore, in order to achieve our main goal of supporting circularity, it is an important step to ensure that our packaging is fully recyclable.
UK PLASTIC PACKAGE (WRAPPING)
We work with the climate NGO WRAP as a member of Plastic Pact UK. Launched in 2018, the Pact for Plastics aims to “combat the scourge of plastic waste”, achieving the following goals by 2025:
- Eliminate problematic or unnecessary disposable packaging.
- Plastic packaging is 100% reusable, recyclable or compostable.
- 70% of plastic packaging must be effectively recycled or composted. AND
- 30% average recycled content content in plastic packaging.
PACKAGING LABELS RECYCLING SCHEME (OPRL)
Topps Tiles is a proud member of the On-Pack Recycling Label (OPRL) program. With over 750 members, the aim of this program is to convey a simple and consistent recycling message on packaging to help consumers properly recycle their waste. This is an important step towards closing the closed loop in packaging, as material recovery is heavily overloaded with impurities resulting from incorrect recycling. All Topps Tiles packaging is properly labeled OPRL in accordance with program guidelines.
CHAMPIONSHIP RECYCLING CONTENT
In addition to improving recyclability, we also understand the importance of incorporating recycled materials into our products. In particular, increased investment in techniques that allow for a greater percentage of recycled materials, increased demand for recycled materials and reduced demand for natural resources. A truly meaningful use of recycled materials is crucial to support the development of a circular economy.
Today, more than 50% of our ceramic products contain recycled materials. For the first time, this information is displayed at the point of sale, in-store and online, improving transparency and helping sustainable customers make informed decisions about the environmental impact of their purchases.
FAQs
Who is the CEO of Topps Tiles? ›
How much did Topps Tiles sell for? ›// The sale is expected to be completed early this month
Topps Tiles has agreed to the £18.1 million sale and leaseback of its Leicester head office and central warehouse buildings to UK Warehouse Properties Limited.
Topps Tiles was founded by Alan Brindle and Edward Derbyshire and opened its first store in 1963 in Sale, Manchester. It then continued to open stores across the North West and the Midlands. In 1990, Topps Tiles merged with Tile Kingdom and consequently expanded its presence into the South and London.
How many Topps Tiles are there? ›You can find your local store using our online store locator, with over 300 locations across the UK, you're never far from a Topps Tiles.