POSTED 11/2024

2024 Winner – Sustainability practices within your company

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Green Design

Waste management plan

Sustainability is at the heart of our operations, and a crucial aspect of that is our waste management plan. Over the past year, we have implemented a comprehensive Circularity Strategy, which has transformed how we handle waste within our projects. This strategy is part of our larger sustainability policies put in place this year and aimed at minimising waste, maximising resource efficiency, and supporting a healthier environment.

Our partnership with a dedicated waste management organisation has been pivotal in this transformation. We have developed a system that converts approximately 50 cubic metres of green waste, including old plants and soil, into nutrient-rich mulch and topsoil each month. Rather than contributing to landfills, this organic material is now repurposed and reintegrated into various landscaping projects, reducing our environmental footprint and promoting a circular approach to resource use. This shift has had a tremendous impact.

By formalising our waste management approach through the Circularity Strategy, we are not only meeting sustainability goals but also contributing to the broader environmental movement of responsible resource use and waste reduction.

Use of recycled or reused products

With sustainability being a key focus, we’ve made significant strides by incorporating recycled and repurposed materials into our products. We’ve launched a new line of planters into our rentals which are made from recycled fishing nets, offering eco-friendly options while protecting marine ecosystems. Additionally, we continue to use recycled polystyrene in our planters, now exceeding 20,000 units made from recycled materials.

Our Circularity Strategy further supports sustainability by reusing planters, packaging, and plants across projects. With an in-house paint shed, we refresh planters, reducing the need for new purchases. Enhanced shadehouse conditions also allow us to rejuvenate plants for reuse in future projects, maximising their lifespan.

Environmental impact/benefit

Our sustainability efforts are directly focused on reducing our environmental impact, driven by the urgency of climate change. A key component is our commitment to achieving carbon neutrality by 2030. To reach this goal, we’ve expanded our fleet to include five hybrid vehicles, reducing transport emissions significantly. Plans to incorporate electric vehicles are underway as charging infrastructure grows.

In addition to reducing emissions, energy efficiency has been improved through investments in insulation for shadehouses, minimising the need for heating and cutting down on gas consumption.

Our commitment to sustainability also extends to water conservation. Over the past year, we’ve continued to refine our watering schedules to further reduce water usage while maintaining plant health. This has not only minimised resource consumption but also supported our broader environmental objectives.

We are currently setting a Science Based Target for our Carbon Footprint which is approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

What has influenced your sustainability actions and goals

Our sustainability actions and goals have been heavily influenced by the growing urgency of climate change and the increasing frequency of extreme weather events. Over the last 12 months, we’ve seen these challenges impact not just the broader environment, but also our industry directly. This has driven us to accelerate our efforts toward achieving carbon neutrality, shaping many of our recent initiatives.

Sustainability has become part of our organisational culture, particularly among younger staff, who are deeply invested in the benefits of these actions. It drives us forward, knowing that every step we take makes a positive difference.

With biophilia becoming more than just a trend, we have recognised the growing emphasis on not only maintaining a healthy environment but also ensuring the well-being of building occupants. We understand the importance of creating healthy spaces and acknowledge the increasing demand for businesses to collaborate with like-minded, sustainable, and environmentally conscious partners, whether they are suppliers, clients, or end users. This collaborative approach significantly influences our sustainability efforts.

How are you planning to grow your sustainability practices

We aim to grow our sustainability practices by continuously setting ambitious targets across the business, focusing on enhancing our Circularity Strategy. This ensures all products and materials contribute to a closed-loop system, through reusing, recycling, or repurposing materials to reduce waste and drive innovation in design and production.

Renewable energy is central to our growth, with 120 solar panels installed and plans to add battery storage for continuous energy use. This will enable us to run our operations entirely on renewable energy, day and night, further reducing our carbon footprint. We’ve also cut paper usage through digital invoicing, targeting a 20% reduction from 2022 levels.

We plan to install air monitors in our offices and nursery to track pollutants like carbon dioxide and VOCs, ensuring proper ventilation and healthy spaces. We will measure our Carbon Footprint every 2-3 years, confident that refining processes, embracing innovation and education, and setting new sustainability targets, will drive us toward greater environmental responsibility and industry leadership in sustainability.

Research with UTS

We are currently funding research by University of Technology Sydney on the impact of indoor plants on negative air ions. Negative air ions, which are often produced by natural processes like plant transpiration, can contribute to cleaner air, improve well-being, and create healthier indoor environments. By supporting this research, we are contributing to a greater understanding of how plants can benefit environmental health.

Studies to date have discussed the formation of air ions and their importance for human health. It notes that closed indoor spaces often lack sufficient air ions, especially negative ones, which are beneficial for health. The study suggests that indoor plants, particularly those identified as effective ion generators, could be used to improve air quality in enclosed spaces. Funding of further research could explore methods to optimise ion generation and stabilise ion concentrations in indoor environments.

Our sustainability plan, driven by our Circularity Strategy, focuses on reducing waste, using recycled materials, adopting hybrid vehicles, conserving water, and aiming for carbon neutrality by 2030. We do this while also supporting research on the environmental benefits of indoor plants to ensure healthy spaces into the future.

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