Environment

Conservation of the natural world

Focusing on our…

1. Primary goals

2. Key actions

3. Strategic actions

- Reduce all carbon emissions

- Reduce water and waste

- Environmental net gain

- Embed environmental sustainability

- Develop responsible supply chain and supplier engagement

1. Primary goals

Reduce all carbon emissions by capturing and validating all consumption and carbon data across the value chain and using it to provide disclosure and inform business strategy, including:

1. Scope 1 and 2 – drive down energy consumption, eliminate all fossil fuel emissions and adopt natural renewable sources for electricity.

2. Scope 3 – measure, report and influence emissions in the value chain to align with our Scope 1 and 2 commitments.

3. Reduce water and waste at source and adopt a circular economy. Consider plastic as a precious resource and take all measures to eliminate it from our operations.

4. Biodiversity net gain must be significantly increased throughout our property portfolio.

5. Embed environmental sustainability into all aspects of every contract and project delivery, not just green projects.

6. Procurement process and supplier engagement to deliver longer-term value beyond cost savings with sustainability as a fundamental measure (for example, plastic reduction and low-carbon products). Promote safe and fair working conditions, including responsible management of environmental and social issues within our supply chain incorporating human rights, modern slavery and labour standards.

2. Key actions

2.1 Switching to electric vehicles (EVs) and creating one of largest fleets in the UK.

2.2 Optimising energy efficiency across our estate by replacing gas boilers with low-carbon heat pumps and solar panel photovoltaics (PV).

2.3 Addressing circular economy and environmental net gain through our Waste and Landscaping teams.

2.4 Baselining our supply chain emissions with a validated science-based target (SBT) carbon reduction plan that will address our largest amount of carbon exposure (Scope 3 report). Enabling our supply chain to protect human rights, prevent child labour, reduce environmental impact and improve supply chain resilience through the work of our Procurement team.

Reduce all carbon emissions

Our environment strategy actions include:

1. Committed to a net zero carbon target by 2025 (Scope 1 and 2).

2. Committed to a net zero carbon target by 2035 (Scope 3).

3. Operate within our validated SBT (science-based targets).

4. Significant emissions relate to our vehicle fleet, 85% of which will be EVs by 2025. We have adopted an EV-first policy and 3,194 EVs are now in service (45% by April 2023).

5. Increasing the EV Charger rollout with >2,700 electric vehicle charge points installed across the Mitie estate, employee homes and client sites.

6. Raising sustainability awareness among frontline colleagues and embedding it within supply chain.

7. Implementing ISO50001 Energy Management Standard across the Group, including our fleet.

8. Promoting remote flexible and hybrid working (via Teams) where possible to reduce travel and accommodation requirements.

9. Decarbonising gas-fired heating systems and removing natural gas from our operations as we replace gas-fired boilers with low-carbon heat pump alternatives.

10. Partnering with the Sustainability Supply Chain School to engage our supply chain. This includes helping them set their own carbon reduction targets and measure progress, plus developing more sustainable delivery in procurement.

Reduce water and waste

Our environment strategy actions include:

1. Reduce water consumption by 5% YoY from a 2019 baseline.

2. Adopt a circular economy and reduce our waste to landfill to zero by 2025.

3. Establishing water reduction through solutions such as sensor taps and cisternless flushing.

4. Removing all single-use plastic items from our operations.

5. Incorporating chemical free cleaning into all operations. Remove toxins from wastewater streams.

6. Following the waste hierarchy and prioritising prevention, re-use and recovery.

7. Attaining zero waste to landfill for Mitie Waste and Environmental managed offices.

8. Launching ‘Bin the Bag’ at all key locations where there is a suitable on-site washing facility to remove the need for single-use bin liners.

9. Promoting the Waste Match portal to encourage reuse and recycling with no material sent to landfill.

10. Establishing communications and learning programmes to provide up-to-date information to Mitie staff on carbon reduction through the circular economy and the waste hierarchy.

Environmental net gain

Our environment strategy actions include:

1. Promoting biodiversity to our people and throughout the value chain.

2. Decarbonising Mitie Landscapes plant and adopting battery-powered alternatives.

3. Incorporating biodiversity schemes at all levels into our built estate, both internally and externally.

4. Using biophilic design in all Mitie working environments to improve productivity and enhance wellbeing.

5. Removing peat from all operations.

6. Examining all potential carbon sequestration schemes and implementing viable projects.

7. Driving down carbon emissions as low to zero as we can.

8. Procuring Nature-Based Carbon Credit offsets from verified sources to mitigate the residual carbon emissions arising at our net zero target dates (direct by 2025 and indirect by 2035).

9. Procuring 100% natural renewable electricity.

Our environment strategy actions include:

1. Establishing a Sustainability Project Charter.

2. Manager training on demystifying sustainability.

3. Providing a sustainable alternative to customer requests, where applicable.

4. Using lifecycle assessments to ensure financial and sustainable value.

5. Embedding decommissioning and end-of-life solutions into design to ensure resource reuse that aligns to a circular economy.

6. Embedding a system of sustainability criteria for all projects:

Net zero.
Local and sustainable resources.
People focused and promotes quality of life.
Active and low-carbon travel choices.
Enhances and protects natural capital.
Champions circular economy and minimises waste.
Embeds a water management culture.
Built to last and advocates our material strategy.
Supports social benefits activity – training, development, SME, third sector, charity and diversity.

Sustainable project delivery

Responsible supply chain and supplier engagement

The responsible supply chain agenda includes four key priorities:

1. Protecting human rights.

2. Preventing child labour.

3. Reducing environmental impact.

4. Improving supply chain resilience.

Our environment strategy actions include:

1. Establishing an ESG Engagement Plan for our supply chain.

2. Converting ESG-related company ambitions into strategic procurement objectives, prioritising the suppliers that are the most important to the supply chain in terms of their respective ESG profiles and risk levels.

3. Establishing a plan to improve carbon data and moving away from analysis based on spend only.

4. Establishing regular communication and interaction with suppliers to identify and eliminate modern slavery in the supply chain.

5. Leveraging existing frameworks such as CDP, Ecovadis and science-based targets.

6. Integrating procurement into the circular economy, rethinking the supply base in terms of sourcing and materials to mitigate risk, while avoiding excessive costs and negative ESG impact.

7. Taking steps to eliminate virgin plastic from the supply chain.

8. As part of our science-based targets, Mitie Group PLC commits to:

Reducing Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions by 25.2% by FY2026/27 and by 90% by FY2045/46 (from a FY2021/22 base year).
Targeting 60% of strategic suppliers (by category spend) to set their own 1.5°C aligned carbon reduction targets by FY2026/27.