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Sustainability
Our Ethical Values
We aim to put our ethical values at the forefront of the service that we deliver to our clients. We believe in providing sustainable cleaning whilst working with our clients to enable them to continue their important mission of sustainability throughout their supply chain.
Sustainable cleaning refers to cleaning habits and methods that individuals can continue to use indefinitely, without worry that their efforts will negatively affect their own health or that of the environment. In other words, it’s a maintainable cleaning routine that is good for us, our clients and most importantly good for the environment.
Don’t just take our word for it! We are proud to be accredited to IS0 14001 since 2007. The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) is an independent international organisation comprising 165 national standards bodies, bringing together experts from across the globe to share their expertise to create international standards, including ISO 14001.
What is ISO 14001?
Environmental management systems are regulated by ISO 14001, meaning an ISO 14001 certification will prove your company’s environmental management policies and procedures comply with international standards.
The universal ISO 14000 series was developed to make comparing the environmental effects of different companies more straightforward, as prior to this, individual organisations created their own environmental management systems, making comparison between different companies virtually impossible. With the implementation of the ISO 14000 series, organisations now have a standardised system for measuring the compliance and effectiveness of their environmental management systems.
The Benefits of ISO 14001
ISO 14001 certifies organisations that can demonstrate they have implemented environmental management plans to help minimise their business’ risk to the environment. ISO 14001 aims to continually upgrade and improve the certified organisation’s environmental management system, ensuring its processes and procedures are as environmentally sound as possible.
ISO 14001 helps us achieve the intended outcomes of our environmental management system. Applied in support of our environmental policy, an environmental management system has a great impact on our business. Some of the benefits of ISO 14001 include:
- Enhanced overall environmental performance
- Ability to systematically manage environmental responsibilities
- Reducing energy usage
- Reducing waste production
- Minimising your negative environmental impact
- Maximising your resources
- Improved sustainability
- Demonstrating your commitment to the environment
- Fulfilling compliance obligations
- Achieving environmental objectives
- Attracting new business prospects
- Increasing efficiency
- International recognition
The standard can be used in whole or in part to systematically improve your environmental management system. Claims of conformity to ISO 14001, however, are not acceptable unless all its requirements are incorporated into your environmental management system and fulfilled without exclusion.
Environmental Initiatives we have at Shield
Careful Selection of our supply chain:
We have a great working relationship with our supplier Futures Supplies. They are a highly environmentally centric partner who deliver products direct to our Clients. Futures Supplies is a company that has been certified Carbon neutral and ISO 14001 accredited since 2006.
Together we are committed to offering the most sustainable cleaning solutions in the marketplace for the cleaning industry. (Please see link below)
https://www.futures-supplies.co.uk/environment.asp#policy%20Environmental
Our Uniforms are sourced from Uneek. A company that ensures that before they work with any manufacturer or supplier, they make sure they adhere to the International Labour Organisation Conventions on Slave labour, Forced Labour and Human Trafficking. To ensure that these practices do not take place in any factory supplying to them, they have put in place a mandatory reporting and monitoring system. They carry out random spot checks (unannounced). Uneek pays and is committed to a Living Wage in the UK and pays the highest possible rates to their overseas suppliers. They adhere to the ideal of Global Human Rights Policy in that we all recognise the right of all employees, whether in the UK or overseas, to have a safe and respectful workplace.
https://www.uneekclothing.com/modernslaverystatement
Uniforms are also sourced from Starworld which is Europe’s leading certified green brand of exceptional corporate clothing. Their environmental safeguards and ethical standards are second to none they take pride in their ethical and environmental achievements and believe in the philosophy of minimising their impact on the environment.
https://www.starworld-europe.com/ethics
Innovative cleaning solutions:
Microfibre cleaning
Floor strippers using cold water methods
Careful selection of Selden products where the balance of product performance against the sustainability is closely monitored.
https://www.selden.co.uk/environment/environmental_policy.asp https://www.selden.co.uk/download/Selden_Environmental_Policy.pdf
Many other options are available depending on our client’s budget, preference or requirements.
Sustainable Logistics:
Bulk orders by area allowing more efficient delivery routes.
Cleaning materials and consumables being delivered at the same time.
Direct deliveries from supplier to client.
Shield are proud to confirm that our entire fleet of Management vehicles are PHEV or hybrid.
Recycling and Re-using:
We recycle as much as we can including: paper, card, phones, plastic, tin, uniforms, cartridges and even our used stamps are sent to support The Bone Cancer Research Charity.
In our head office we do not use plastic disposable cups only mugs and glasses to keep our waste minimal.
We are using email over paper and post for communication with our staff, clients and we also use email for our marketing campaigns to minimise paper waste.
Environmental Policy:
Our Environmental policy is available to all staff, clients and suppliers.