Printing business environmental impact
Printing business transport efficiency
Guide
Vehicle use has significant environmental impacts:
- cars, vans and lorries use petrol, oil and diesel which are from non-renewable resources
- vehicle engines release carbon dioxide (associated with climate change), sulphur dioxide (associated with acid rain) and nitrous oxides (associated with air pollution)
- traffic congestion increases noise and affects communities
Using transport efficiently can reduce the environmental impact of your printing business. It can also cut the amount of money and tax you pay on transport.
If you operate your own vehicles, you should introduce a fleet management process and consider:
- optimising delivery routes to reduce mileage
- converting your vehicles so they can take cleaner fuel or opting for dual-fuel vehicles
- using electric vehicles in urban areas
- organising sales teams by geographical area rather than as customer account teams to reduce vehicle use
- using your own vans to pick up staff for work
- using couriers to deliver one-off jobs if your own transport would not be environmentally efficient
Workplace travel
Introducing a workplace travel plan to manage the travel generated by your business can reduce your environmental impact, as well as offering financial and staff benefits. A travel plan can help you reduce the need for travel and support more sustainable travel, such as walking, cycling, public transport, car sharing and car clubs. For more information, see how to create a workplace travel plan.