Biffa plc

06/21/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 06/20/2021 09:46

Biffa unlocks £1bn for green infrastructure investment, ahead of plans

21 June 2021

Biffa unlocks £1bn for green infrastructure investment, ahead of plans

In its inaugural sustainability report, Biffa has confirmed today that it has already unlocked £1bn worth of investment in vital UK green infrastructure, well ahead of its targets. The update comes as the business publishes its first sustainability report following the launch of its sustainability strategy 'Resourceful, Responsible' in March 2020.

Biffa has accelerated its investment plans over the course of the last year, focusing on four key areas - Reduce, Recycle, Recover, and Collect, aligned to the waste hierarchy. The Group has an overall ambition to unlock £1.25bn investment by 2030.

The report shows the company has made further progress against ambitious targets despite the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. As part of the investment programme the Group has doubled its plastics recycling capacity this year to more than 120,000 tonnes at its state-of-the-art facilities in the North East as well as establishing an industry leading position in waste reduction through the acquisition of Company Shop Group and making further acquisitions to expand its low carbon collections service.

Biffa has also announced further progress against its commitment to reduce emissions, outlining a roadmap to reach net zero no later than 2050. Since 2002 Biffa has reduced its CO2 emissions by 70% and is targeting a further 50% reduction by 2030.

Commenting on the report, Michael Topham, CEO of Biffa, said:'We have accelerated our sustainability programme despite the challenges posed by Covid-19, with meaningful delivery across a range of areas. The waste industry plays a critical role in shaping a better future for our communities and the environment. As part of our commitment to delivering on our ambitious plans Biffa has committed to unlocking £1.25bn investment in vital UK green infrastructure and I'm delighted to have already realised £1bn of that commitment, well ahead of plan.

'Biffa has a defining and important role to play in delivering more sustainable solutions to help combat the UK's waste challenge. I'm proud of this progress but we cannot be complacent and remain fully focussed on strengthening our commitment to delivering more circular solutions for our customers and wider society.'

The three pillars of Biffa's sustainability strategy are: Building a circular economy, Tackling climate change, and Caring for our people, supporting our communities.

Key highlights since March 2021 include:

Building a circular economy

  • We've doubled the Group's plastics recycling capacity with investments in facilities in the North East.
  • We entered the world of UK surplus redistribution through our acquisition of Company Shop Group, enabling us to deliver a unique circular economy proposition.

Tackling climate change

  • We're on track to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030. This year-on-year reduction in CO2 emissions means that since our peak emissions in 2002, we have reduced emissions by 70%. We also set out our path to net zero emissions by no later than 2050.
  • Our programme of acquisitions over recent years has helped to improve collection efficiencies and route densities. This year we welcomed Ward and Simply Waste into the Biffa family, as well as announcing an agreement to purchase Viridor's collections business. Acquisitions help to significantly reduce CO2 emissions per tonne of waste collected.
  • We've also taken thousands of truck journeys off the road by expanding our rail network.

Caring for our people, supporting our communities

  • We remained committed to investing in our communities and protecting the planet for future generations. Since 2019, we have allocated £13.9m of Landfill Tax receipts to local community projects, through the Biffa Award fund, which include important biodiversity initiatives to help protect endangered wildlife species in the UK.
  • We made further improvement in employee engagement despite the challenges of the pandemic, with our engagement score growing to 59%, which is 3% above the UK average.
  • We continued our successful Diversity and Inclusion programme, launching our first Women in Waste group to look at how we can better attract, support, and develop women at Biffa.

You can read the full 2021 sustainability report here.

-ENDS-

Notes to Editors

For enquiries, please contact:

Houston

[email protected]/ +44 (0)204 529 0549

About Biffa

With a history of leading the UK's waste management industry for over 100 years, today Biffa is an established enabler of the UK circular economy.

Our team of more than 9,000 colleagues carry out essential operations every day to support the UK circular economy including collection, surplus redistribution, recycling, treatment, disposal and energy generation.

Our purpose is 'to change the way people think about waste' and sustainability has been at the heart of our business strategy for many years. We have already made huge strides in our sustainability journey by investing in plastic recycling and energy from waste infrastructure, surplus redistribution and low carbon collections, leading to a 70% reduction in our carbon emissions since 2002. Our sustainability strategy 'Resourceful, Responsible' will see us unlock £1.25bn of investment in vital green economy infrastructure by 2030, while further reducing our carbon emissions by 50% by 2030. We aim to have net zero emissions no later than 2050.

We understand that we must lead by example and are committed to further improving health, safety and wellbeing in our sector. We are proud to have been awarded a 5 star grading by the British Safety Council. We have also made strong progress in making sure Biffa is an inclusive place to work where diversity is championed and our >9,000 strong workforce feel valued and understand the positive contribution they make to enabling the UK circular economy.

Our long-standing Biffa Award programme supports sustainable projects across the UK which deliver environmental benefits while making a valuable contribution to local communities. Our partnership with WasteAid helps countries in the developing world with managing their waste more sustainably.