The Dutch health insurance company VGZ is the first of its kind to be certified on the CO2 Performance Ladder. The organization has been certified for level 3 of the CO2 management system. Frank van der Leest, facility and location manager of VGZ, has received the certificate. In the past year, the health insurer managed to reduce 2 percent of its carbon emissions.
The Dutch meat processer Vleesbedrijf Bolscher has recently been certified on the CO2 Performance Ladder at level 3. The company is the first in its kind to obtain a certificate on the Ladder. Bolscher notices that consumers are becoming more aware of their eating habits and opt for meat products that are produced and processed in a sustainable manner. The meat products should also adhere to high standards of animal welfare. Bolscher also expects that meat consumption will decline. A certificate on the Ladder therefore serves as a motivation for the company to remain active in CO2 reduction and sustainable processing of meat.
The Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water State has assigned consultancy firm SGS Search to conduct a research on the decrease of carbon emissions as a result of the ban on plastic bags in shops. Since January of 2016, the Dutch government banned the use of plastic bags in shops. The research results state that the ban on plastic shopping bags in the Netherlands has led to a reduction of 26 kilotons of carbon emissions. As a consultancy firm, SGS Search actively works at reducing their own CO2 with the help of the CO2 Performance Ladder.
The Dutch construction company Rutte Groep and the circular networking organization New Horizon Urban Mining have launched the world’s first installation that distills and reclaims cement from old concrete materials.
The Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management (I&W) acquires level four of the CO2 Performance Ladder. On Tuesday the 29th of May, state secretary Stientje van Veldhoven received the certificate. Read the article below for the (photo) impression of the certification ceremony.
State secretary Stientje van Veldhoven, of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, calls upon other governments to actively reduce carbon emissions.
The Hague, 29th of May, 2018 – The Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management (I&W) has been certified on the CO2 Performance Ladder at level 4. On Tuesday the 29th of May 2018, state secretary Stientje van Veldhoven received the certificate. In the past eight years, the energy consumption of I&W has dropped by one third of the total energy consumption.
The Dutch water authority Scheldestromen, located in the Province of Zeeland, has recently implemented that CO2 Performance Ladder as a procurement instrument. The manner in which the organization includes both internal as well as external stakeholders in its efforts towards sustainability, is innovative and effective. In this article, Scheldestromen shares its ambitions and motivations to make use of the procurement instrument to realize sustainable infrastructure.
DKG Holding, the organization behind the successful Dutch kitchen brands Bruynzeel Kitchens and Keller Kitchens, recently obtained a certificate on the CO2 Performance Ladder at level 3. With this accomplishment, the company is the first in its branch that makes use of the management system to improve its efforts of reducing carbon emissions. The kitchen manufacturer aims to be a frontrunner in sustainability.
After seven years of being in the board of the Foundation for Climate Friendly Procurement and Business (SKAO), chairman Patrick Buck is retiring. The former director of projects at Dutch railway concern ProRail was involved at the very start of the CO2 Performance Ladder and recalls how it all began. Now that society and businesses realize the importance of sustainability and carbon emissions reduction, the former director sees a great future ahead for the Ladder as the ultimate CO2 management system of the Netherlands.
The Foundation for Climate Friendly Procurement and Business (SKAO), in collaboration with Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), is carrying out the project ‘On the road to climate neutral infrastructure in the Netherlands’. The ongoing project started in the spring of 2017. A great part of this project is a research on the possibilities of a climate neutral infrastructure sector. The study is completed and the research report recently published.
The average CO2 emissions of European passenger cars has increased by 0,4 percent in 2017 compared to the year before. This was reported by the European Environment Agency (EEA) and the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA).
Due to economic growth and a rising population, the demand for construction and infrastructure equally rises. These construction works require raw materials, such as sand and gravel, that are becoming more scarce on land. For this reason, more and more of the required raw materials are being sourced from the bottom of the sea. At the same time, offshore wind farms are being built at rapid speed to meet the demands for renewable power. This makes it more challenging to dig up the raw building materials from the sea, because the sea surfaces become crowded. DC Dreding, the Belgian dredging and sand extraction company, has the ambition to turn these dilemma’s into opportunities.
The Dutch advisory and engineering agency Movares values a sustainable and healthy living environment. The company therefore actively seeks to minimize the environmental impact of its business. To downsize the environmental impact of its activities, Movares creates opportunities to align sustainable goals with project outcomes and practices what it preaches. Thanks to the firm’s efforts to minimize its impact on the environment, Movares managed to develop a business policy that led to the lowest carbon footprint of all the large engineering agencies of the Netherlands.
Sustainable bicycle lanes made from fibers from recycled toilet paper, repurposed old tires within low-carbon asphalt mixtures and recycled asphalt roads. For the Dutch construction company Roelofs, sustainability is no longer just a thought; the company is certified on the highest level of the CO2 Performance Ladder. However, the challenge of sustainability for Roelofs lies in preserving CO2 reduction despite economic growth.
Reducing carbon emissions in your organization and projects can be challenging. By implementing the CO2 Performance Ladder, conducting business while contributing to a sustainable environment will become an opportunity rather than a challenge. You reduce CO2, which means you’ll reduce energy and costs: a win-win situation! Curious to know more about what the Ladder can do for your organization? Check out the videos of certification and procurement with the CO2 Performance Ladder!
A feasibility assessment of the CO2 Performance Ladder has found in favour of the scheme being developed and implemented in Australia.
The Dutch company Rensa, wholesaler of goods such as heating installations and air ventilation systems, has started with a pilot project to make use of the biofuel HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil) in January of this year. The organization has 45 trucks of which 5 are currently suitable for the use of the biofuel, that consists of 80 percent diesel and 20 percent HVO. This leads to a carbon emissions reduction of 17,8 percent. To accelerate the transition towards sustainability, the wholesaler realizes that reducing their carbon emissions alone is not sufficient.
The Dutch Central Bureau for the Statistics (CBS) concluded in a research that the carbon emissions of the Netherlands were down by 2,2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017, compared to the same period of the year before. At the same time the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the Netherlands has increased by 2,9 percent in Q4 of 2017. According to the CBS, the reduction in CO2 was made possible by less energy generated from coal power plants, among other things.
The Dutch automatization and engineering agency Soltegro has recently obtained a certificate of the CO2 Performance Ladder on level 5, the highest level. Soltegro says they have raised the bar when it comes to sustainability, which is why the Ladder is a perfect fit for their organisation. However, the agency notices that commissioning parties should make a greater contribution in the transition towards a sustainable economy.
Weverling Groenproviders, of the Dutch city of Monster, is a company that is active in the field of planting and maintenance of greenery in urban areas. Think of green rooftops, gardens and trees near roads and streets. By implementing the CO2 Performance Ladder, the company structurally reduces its carbon emission and works towards sustainability. In the near future, Weverling aims to generate more revenues, while at the same time, causing a minimum amount of CO2 emissions.
Sustainable and socially responsible procurement should not only be the responsibility of the procurement or purchasing department of an organization. In order to make a strong and lasting impact on the supply chain and on the business sector, the whole organization must be involved in the practice of sustainability. For this reason, the international guideline ISO 20400 has been developed. What is the ISO 20400? And how can organizations re-enforce their contribution to a green economy by using both the ISO 20400 and the CO2 Performance Ladder?
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) consist of 17 objectives that according to the United Nations ‘will make the world a better place by 2030’. These SDG’s concern issues such as the fight against climate change, poverty, and the development of sustainable cities. How can organizations contribute to these goals? And how does the CO2 Performance Ladder play its part?
For the Dutch construction company Martens en Van Oord, sustainability is an essential part of business. The company implements the CO2 Performance Ladder as an answer to a growing market demand of sustainability practices and CO2 reduction. However, in order to win the battle against climate change, more concrete action needs to be taken. In this interview, Madeleine Schenk, team leader KAM (Quality, Business and Environment) at Martens en Van Oord, talks about the ladder and sustainable practices that tackle climate change.
Preventing rail disruptions instead of repairing them. This sounds like the future. However, the Dutch company InTraffic brings prevention a step closer to the present with Big Data. The software system that the ICT firm developed, enables the Dutch railway operator ProRail to discover the cause of disruptions to the railway infrastructure. Thanks to Big Data solutions, ProRail can undertake action to prevent potential disruptions.
With the implementation of the CO2 Performance Ladder, TBI Infra aims to conduct its business in a sustainable and ecological fashion. The Dutch construction company reduced its CO2 emissions by 35 percent within three years. Due to measures of CO2 reduction, TBI Infra has managed to gain award advantages in certain projects. Jeroen Ritzer – van Dinther, coordinator of Sustainability at TBI Infra, talks about his experiences with the CO2 Performance Ladder and how the management system has to be integrated within the project and the company.
More than 1.700 scientists worldwide have co-authored a paper in 1992 in which humanity is warned against the disastrous effects of climate change. The scientists have recently looked at what has been done in the past 25 years to mitigate climate change and prevent the disastrous forecasts from affecting society and environment. Based on this recent activity, more scientists are supporting the claims that were made in the ‘World Scientst’ Warning to Humanity’.
During the second day of COP23 in Bonn, which took place from 7 to 17 November, Syria ratified the Paris Climate Agreement. This means that the USA is the only country in the world that has not ratified the Paris Climate Agreement. The Climate Conference in the German city was mostly meant to further go into details and to make practical agreements to ensure realisation of the goals. Nothing spectacular was expected from this COP, but what did it deliver?
The climate conference in Bonn, that takes place from the 7th till the 17th of November, is in full swing. Not that many people will be particularly concerned by this event, however it is quite interesting. The conference, also known as the COP23, is organized by the United Nations. Ministers that have signed the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015 gather here to discuss the climate goals. Practical agreements to ensure compliance of the objectives will also be developed during the conference. The COP23 will not lead to spectacular results, but to realize the climate deal, the details should not be left behind.
A banner of the CO2 Performance Ladder greets you at the construction site of the Rotterdamsebaan, a project in which BAM and VolkerWessels collaborate within the consortium of Combinatie Rotterdamsebaan. During the development of this project, sustainability is taken to a higher level. The project consist of the connection between a highway junction and the innercity of The Hague and the most sustainable tunnel of the Netherlands. The tunnel will be named after an artwork by the famous Dutch artist Piet Mondriaan, The Victory Boogie Woogie.
Trees capture CO2. For the Dutch tree and plant nursery M. van den Oever, this means that the company can capture even more CO2 than it causes with its activities. But, in order to remain a frontrunner in sustainability, there is more work to be done. Managing director Marwin Dekkers and CSR manager Joost van den Oever at M. van den Oever tell their story about CO2 reduction in the tree and plant nursery. At SKAO, we are discovering more about the ambitions of this company to strengthen its focus on sustainability and CO2 reduction.
ABB Benelux works hard at reducing its CO2 emissions. For this reason, the Swiss energy and automation company sees opportunities in the implementation of the CO2 Performance Ladder to structurally keep its CO2 footprint at its lowest, and to encourage its supply chains to reduce carbon emissions.
Dutch infrastructure company Krinkels recently announced in its annual sustainability report, that it had been awarded with eleven projects, in which the award advantage was granted through the CO2 Performance Ladder. The secret to this success? To go beyond achieving sustainability objectives with the help of the CO2 management system.
The implementation of the CO2 Performance Ladder does not limit itself to the infrastructure sector. The waste sector also takes advantage of the management system to reduce its CO2 emissions in the atmosphere. AVR is one of the companies that benefits from the CO2 Performance Ladder. The waste-to-energy concern has implemented the Ladder to strive for its ambitions in sustainability and CO2-reduction.
In august of this year, the 800th CO2 Performance Ladder certificate was awarded to the Dutch energy organization Pure Energie. This confirms that sustainability and awareness of CO2 emissions are gaining more relevance in business practices. Five questions were asked to Gijs Termeer, manager of the CO2 Performance Ladder, about how this milestone was achieved and what we all can expect from the CO2 management system in the future.
