Environmental policy

Environmental Statement

In Kind Direct recognises that good environmental management is an essential part of overall good practice for a national charity. We are champions of product giving, working closely with global companies, manufacturers, and retailers and central to our work is a commitment to find a good home for all donated products. We stop them going to waste, extend their life, and ensure they have social impact through our UK charity network.

We work towards best practice for environmental standards in all areas of our operation. We focus on continual improvement and aim to set ambitious targets for reducing our environmental impact. Everyone working at IKD, and our partners has a part to play. We will prioritise implementing this policy internally, achieving a reduction in waste and carbon emissions, and sharing our progress externally. We are working towards publishing our baseline and plans for a proportionate reduction of our environmental impact, as the scale of our work increase.

Impact

Our direct impact on the environment primarily relates to:

Our energy, material and water use at our premises, and travel by
Our logistics operations including environmental performance in relation to energy, material and water usage at the warehouse, and transport

We can also indirectly impact the environment by:

Helping companies to reduce their negative environmental impact by providing an alternative to landfill and supporting a culture of best practice around
Encouraging and supporting our UK network of charity partners to act in an environmentally responsible way.
Advocating a reduce, reuse, recycle approach to
Supporting the trial and distribution of “green” products and having a clear ethical donation policy for accepting donated products and services.

Action

In Kind Direct is committed to supporting a just transition to net zero and reducing the environmental impact of our operations and service delivery. We committed to monitoring our carbon emissions and resource usage, which we started in 2022 by establishing our baseline impact. We are working towards publishing an environmental impact report in 2024, outlining our environmental impact metrics and providing specific targets and a strategy to meet them. This also includes a Net Zero target and our contribution to the relevant UN

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We will review this policy again once this strategy has been published in 2024. We will also establish a decision-making framework in 2024 which supports staff to assess actions and services that have a positive environmental impact, but which may require more resource to implement, as well as the impact of new projects.

We commit to taking practical steps to reduce our resource usage and carbon emissions, as well as finding innovative solutions to operational challenges. This may include decisions between the most cost- effective and the “greenest” options, which will require budget consideration.

We commit to:

Going digital and work towards a paperless office.
Minimising our energy and water usage, considering green energy tariffs.
Maintaining recycling facilities and reducing the use of single-use plastic wherever possible.
Working with corporate partners to reduce the volume of non-recyclable packaging we receive and reusing recyclable materials in our service delivery for outbound orders.
Using ethical consumables including Fairtrade tea, coffee, and sugar; FSC certified paper; and responsibly sourced cleaning materials where possible.
Reducing our impact through events by prioritising digital, printing fewer materials, opting for meat-free options and avoiding plastic.
Providing our impact reports as digital by default. When printing is necessary, always using recyclable materials e.g. uncoated paper, recyclable bindings.
Working with our logistics suppliers to minimise carbon emissions in our supply chain e.g. through back loading and efficient use of space.
Supporting our landlords to improve premises’ environmental performance.
Sharing and learning alongside our sector peers and corporate partners, to be confident in acting on environmental and sustainability issues.
Working towards using the most sustainable providers feasible, including asking questions of current and prospective suppliers regarding their own practices and approach to their environmental footprint.
Seek to have relevant environmental clauses included in future contracts agreed with third parties where relevant.
Screen our current and future suppliers for their environmental policies and for evidence of implementation of such policies and indicate that such performance will be used as criteria for supplier selection. This will link in with our Ethical Fundraising and Partnerships Policy.
Observe existing environmental legislation as a minimum standard and seek to out-perform current legislative requirements where practical.
Reviewing our Travel Policy to include improved guidance on sustainable transport options for IKD’s stakeholders and considering environmental impact where appropriate.
Being mindful of greenwashing, by fostering a culture of transparency when it comes to our environmental position, sustainable products on our catalogue or initiatives we carry out.

View our full Environmental Policy. For any questions, please contact Sam, our Quality & Sustainability Manager.

Last updated January 2022.