Environmental Policy
This document sets out how The Alresford Chocolate Company will manage its business to reduce the impact of its operation on the environment and how it will positively promote sustainable business practices for the benefit of staff, the community and the environment.
Waste Management
The Alresford Chocolate Company will use a waste management operator that has a recycling facility and will work positively to reduce the production of waste.
The company produces three main types of waste
- Supplier packaging
- Kitchen waste including some food
- Office paper waste
Supplier Packaging
Any boxes we recieve which are suitable for reuse, will be used to pack our consignments in. All other food packaging will be disposed of in black bin bags and any glass bottles will be rinsed for recycling.
Kitchen Waste
The main waste product the kitchen has to cope with is greaseproof paper, this will be reused if suitable and only be disposed of when unclean. Kitchen waste will be carefully inspected to ensure we recycle everything we can and any other waste will be disposed of in black bin bags.
Office Paper Waste
We strive to use double sided printing wherever possible, to reduce our consumption of paper. Any one sided discarded paper will be reused as scrap, all other office paper waste will be shredded. Some of the waste paper will be used as a packing filler for our consigments. Any waste paper which cannot be reused will be put into white bin bags and recycled by the waste management company.
Other Items
Printer cartridges - these will be returned for recycling.
Energy Usage
The company is committed to reducing energy usage where possible and will take the following steps:
- Water heating will be turned off over the weekend or during any periods when hot water will not be required.
- Tempering machines will also be turned off when they are not needed for any longer period than a weekend.
- All equipment purchased will be assessed on the basis of energy efficiency as well as cost and fitness for purpose.
- Heating will be appropriate to the weather conditions. All radiators are fitted with thermostats and all staff are responsible for adjusting these as necessary.
- Lights will be turned off when rooms are unoccupied for longer than a few minutes.
- Where possible, energy saving light bulbs will be used.
Community Support
In order to play our part in supporting the local community we will:
Consider all requests to engage in events which benefit the community.
Offer work experience to at least one young person from the local high school per year.
Grant requests for raffle prizes for local charities up to a limit of 3 per month.
Procurement
We will attempt to minimise the impact of the necessary packaging requirements of premium chocolates by careful choice of packaging.
All packaging decisions for various products will be mindful of the kind of packaging to be used and whether it can be recycled.
All card packaging commissioned by the company will use wood pulp from sustainable resources and will be recyclable.
We will use local suppliers where possible, not only for ingredients but also for equipment and office essentials
Working practices
We will offer flexible working arrangements were possible to retain our valuable staff.
Staff will be trained and developed in order to meet their full potential in whatever field.
