A FAMILY-RUN food firm hosted a visit at their Bedale-based HQ from students at the University of York’s Sustainable Business Department to discuss a report on net zero food.
“Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have been responsible for around 70 percent of the world’s pollution and nearly 17 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions,” said HECK! co- founder Debbie Keeble.
“The work that the team at the University of York completed has helped us develop a long-term strategy, which acknowledges its role in preventing the worst effects of climate change, but also helps us to adapt to the new reality that climate change will produce in the near future.”
NatWest’s recent A Springboard to Sustainable Recovery report, published in November 2022, also highlights the key role that SMEs can play in decarbonisation, while shining a light on the opportunities for growth in the journey to net zero.
NatWest’s figures reveal that meeting net zero targets brings an opportunity to boost the Yorkshire and North East economy by up to £33bn between now and 2030.
Fiona Runcorn from NatWest said: “Addressing climate change sits at the heart of NatWest’s strategy and purpose and are well placed and pivotal to drive the next decade of decarbonisation in the UK.
“Tackling climate change is not only good for the planet and the communities we work in, but makes good business sense too, so we’re delighted to support HECK’s ambitions to reach net zero.
“It was great to meet the team and students to discuss the key recommendations.”
The University of York report gives eight recommendations for HECK!, including investment in renewable energy as well as continuing with plastic reduction and working with innovative companies in its supply chain.
HECK! has a dedicated team in-house working on its net zero journey. This includes student Binod Kamur who is on placement from the university.
In 2022 the company met some significant milestones, including saving 175 tonnes of CO2 by reducing plastic intensity, donating 65,000 portions of food to food banks and creating on-pack C02 information.
In 2023, the business will finalise its Scope 3 emissions and set out a carbon reduction roadmap. Also, it aims to reduce energy consumption by ten per cent by installing an energy monitoring system.
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