“New technologies are
offering innovative ways
to improve efficiency and
reduce emissions”
Environmental responsibility
Parker Merchanting are accredited to the ISO 14001
Environmental Management standard. They make sure that all
products are sourced ethically and at the lowest cost. As part of a
continual commitment to ensure the company’s carbon footprint
remains low, minimum order charges have been introduced,
alongside working with customers to consolidate orders. Rather
than delivering several times on smaller orders customers receive
one large order, thus reducing the company’s carbon footprint.
Parker Merchanting are the first UK distributor to be able
to source and supply ethically sourced wood products. They
continually innovate and develop new ways of improving their
environmental credentials. The company made the decision to
apply for FSC certification, after increasing calls for FSC products
from their customers and their own desire to provide more
sustainably resourced eco-friendly timber products.
“We are continually looking to develop our environmental
credentials and last year we were the first UK distributor in safety
to source and become accredited, at chain of custody level, to the
Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) accreditation. This means that the
timber products we supply to construction sites (such as settingout pegs and profile boards) can be sourced from alternative
products that have been manufactured in Rainforest Alliance
certified forests. These products are assigned a separate product
code number and we store them separately to make sure that they
don’t get cross-contaminated with other wood products. We were
audited by the FSC and we were delighted when we were able to
be awarded the accreditation.”
FSC is an international non-profit organisation dedicated to
promoting responsible forestry. FSC certifies forests all over the
world to ensure they meet the highest environmental and social
standards. Being FSC certified shows that a business complies with
the highest social and environmental standards on the market.
The FSC Multi-Site Chain of Custody certification is primarily for
larger companies that have multiple sites and share the same
function, methods or procedures, and is ideally suited to Parker
Merchanting.
After a stringent auditing process across the whole business,
Parker Merchanting are now able to show an unbroken complete
Chain of Custody, from the forest all the way to the end user. In
order to become certified the company teamed up with the nonprofit organisation NEPCon, which carried out
the audit to ensure compliance. NEPCon
manages the Rainforest Alliance’s
Forestry Programme in Europe
and provides services under their
accreditation. Parker Merchanting’s
head office will now be responsible for
controlling the Chain of Custody
systems and audits of all sites
annually. NEPCon will
then perform an
annual audit on a
sample, dependent
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on the number of sites within the certificate, to ensure that records
are being maintained as required.
New technologies are offering innovative ways to improve
efficiency and reduce emissions. Later this year, Parker
Merchanting will begin implementing state of the art route
planning software. The software will allow routes to be planned
efficiently and ensure company vehicles are travelling at the lowest
cost while further reducing their carbon footprint. In addition to
this, customers will be allowed to sign electronic tablets to confirm
proof of delivery (POD). The company will then be able to sign
those documents into their POD collector system. This will mean
staff are no longer required to carry paper documentation. While
customers still receive a paper copy, there is no need to make a
duplicate copy for Parker Merchanting to keep and send back to
their depots to scan in for their own records. These technologies
are areas that the company will look towards developing further as
they continue to improve efficiency and reduce carbon emissions.
Parker Merchanting hold ISO 9001 Quality Management
Systems and OHSAS 18001 Occupational Health and Safety
HSE INTERNATIONAL
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