Plastic Pledge

We want to do our part to help reduce plastic waste and limit the amount of single-use plastic throughout our entire business. 

We're also keen to ensure as little material (plastic, paper and cardboard) as possible is wasted or thrown away, and what little does need to be disposed of is recycled responsibly, as it is now.

Update May 2021:

Since the introduction of our Plastic Pledge in May 2020 we've made great strides to reduce the amount of single-use plastic we use, primarily by focusing on the sorting bags we were using to pick and check your orders, plus the plastic-based logo tape we were using to pack all our parcels.

Our 2020 Pledges and our Progress Since:

• Reduce our single use plastic bag use by at least 75% for the period between now and 1st March 2021, compared with the same period the previous year

• Completely eliminate the use of plastic-based tape on boxes we despatch before 1st September 2020

We are also very happy to report we also achieved this goal, with the introduction of our new paper-based logo tape in August 2020 and elimination of plastic-based tape prior to September. Over the course of the year this led to a reduction in plastic-based tape use of over 90%. Between the start of March '19 to end of February '20 we ordered and used 3,240 150m rolls of this tape. Between the start of March '20 to end of February '21 we ordered and used 289 150m rolls of this tape, a reduction of 91.08%. As we have no eliminated the use of plastic-based tapes to pack our parcels, we do not plan to order or use any more such tape again, leading to a 100% reduction compared to our previous usage.

• Zero recyclable plastic waste to go to landfill from any part of our operation by 1st April 2021 - every piece either gets re-used or recycled

This one is more difficult to quantify and substantiate, however our warehouse team have been extremely vigilant in this area and we are happy to confirm we are successfully re-using or recycling every piece of recyclable plastic waste that comes in to the business.

We're very proud of the steps we've taken to reduce our impact on the environment, however we're not content to stop with the progress we've made so far. In order to continue to minimise single-use plastics throughout our business, we have set ourselves the following goals for 2021-22:

Our 2021 Pledges:

1. The majority of our suppliers still use large amounts of single-use plastic when sending orders in to us. We pledge to work closely with our supplier partners and request they also look in to ways to minimise single-use plastics, helping us achieve our goal of eliminating unnecessary plastic use throughout our entire supply chain.
   
2. Completely eliminate the use of plastic-based outer shipping bags used when sending smaller orders by sourcing a weatherproof, sustainable paper-based alternative.
3. Source an alternative protective coating for the covers of our annual Gas, LPG, Oil & Heating Spares catalogue - the covers for our catalogues are currently coated in a thin plastic laminate to increase durability as they are continually used and flicked through over the course of a whole year. We have already begun discussions with our printing partner to look at more eco-friendly options for protecting the covers of our catalogues in future. Unfortunately these discussions took place too late to successfully source an alternative laminating option for our 2021 catalogue, however we pledge to use 100% plastic-free materials in our 2022 catalogue.

We also intend to look at other ways in which we can improve the sustainability of our overall business, not just relating to single-use plastics. From the ways we work internally to the environmental impact of the delivery services we use, we are committed to continually improving the sustainability of our entire operation. We plan to replace our Plastic Pledge with a full sustainability plan from 2022.

As always we welcome any feedback and suggestions from our customers to improve our business and serve our customers as well as we possibly can. If there is anything you would like to share with us please do not hesitate to get in touch, [email protected]

Many thanks as always, Team HWOS.

Update August 2020:

As part of our ongoing commitment to reducing single-use plastics throughout our business, we set ourselves the following goals earlier this year:

Our 2020 Pledges

1. Reduce our single use plastic bag use by at least 75% for the period between now and 1st April 2021, compared with the same period the previous year
2. Completely eliminate the use of plastic-based tape on boxes we despatch before 1st September 2020
3. Zero recyclable plastic waste to go to landfill from any part of our operation by 1st April 2021 - every piece either gets re-used or recycled

August Update:

1. We are well on our way to hit our goal of cutting our single use plastic bag use by 75% by the end of our financial year, so far this year having purchased almost 90% fewer bags from our supplier than in the same period last year! We have achieved this primarily by replacing our older plastic sorting bags with new paper ones, as in the images below:

2. Earlier this year we began trialling a new paper-based tape for our
parcels and we're pleased to confirm following this successful trial we
will very soon be eliminating plastic-based tape on all of our outgoing
parcels.

At present we are still using our old plastic logo tape (the white tape
with our logo and contact details in green, brown or blue) to help our
couriers identify our parcels and let them know how to contact us in the
unlikely event one gets misplaced, however we'll very shortly be taking
delivery of our brand new paper-based logo tape below, and we'll be
able to completely eliminate plastic-based tape from all of our outgoing
parcels.

3. We've increased our recycling capabilities at our Bishop Auckland Headquarters and have a big focus on re-using materials wherever possible, we're happy to say we're well on our way to achieving this Plastic Pledge goal!

As always we welcome any and all feedback about any of our packing materials and methods, if there's anything you'd like to let us know please don't hesitate to get in touch, [email protected]

Many thanks as always, Team HWOS

Original Post May 2020:

We want to do our part to help reduce plastic waste and limit the amount of single-use plastic we use when picking, checking and packing your orders. 

We're also keen to ensure as little material (plastic, paper and cardboard) as possible is wasted or thrown away, and what little does need to be disposed of is recycled responsibly, as it is now.

Our new plans for this year follow the basic principals of minimising unnecessary waste:

Reduce • Re-use • Recycle

Reduce:

Plastic bags - We will significantly reduce the number of single use plastic bags we use when processing your orders. We identify this to be by far and away the biggest contributor to unnecessary plastic use in our business today. We have already started testing paper-based alternatives to ensure your goods are transported securely without the need for plastic bags.

Box tape - Our current box tape is plastic-based and should be removed and disposed of before recycling the boxes we use when sending your orders. We will replace this non-recyclable tape with a paper-based tape that can be left on the empty boxes and be recycled, or can be removed and disposed of with other bio-degradable waste. We are currently testing a few different types of paper-based tape to ensure they are strong enough to secure even our heaviest parcels, but the results have been very positive so far and we hope to fully make the switch soon.

Re-use:

Plastic bags - Many of our suppliers still use a lot of plastic bags when they pack up our orders, most of which currently does not get re-used. While we know it will take time for single-use plastic to be eliminated completely throughout our whole supply chain, we endeavour to re-use as many plastic bags as possible to reduce our single-use plastic bag consumption dramatically.

Recycle:

On-site recycling facilities - We currently do not dispose of any cardboard at all, it all gets re-used or recycled in one way or another, but there is more we can do to ensure this is the same for plastics. We are currently working with our waste and recycling partner to increase our current recycling capacity for all plastic waste that cannot be re-used on site.

We are fully committed to our 2020 Pledges and will be transparent about our progress with updates throughout the year. We will also be working with our suppliers and asking them to look at ways they can minimise their unnecessary use of plastics when packing up our orders. 

As always we appreciate any feedback or suggestions about any of our services and operations. If there's anything you'd like to tell us, please get in touch using the contact forms on this website or email [email protected]

Many thanks, Team HWOS.