BDL New Plymouth - Westown

ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY IN PRACTICE

BDL was recently recognised for how we have put our Environmental Policy into practice at the HP Partner Awards in December 2020. We are very proud of this award.

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES WE’RE ADDRESSING

Given BDL’s reliance on air & vehicle transport in daily operations this is the area we identified we could make immediate changes to mitigate the effects of our own business activities. These initiatives work to reduce & counteract the greenhouse gases we directly produce (via emissions and contribution to landfill).

Greenhouse Gases are attributed to creating Climate Change. These initiatives also reduce & counteract our contribution to local air pollutants which affect the health of our local communities, flora & fauna.

Before human habitation, 80% of NZ was native forest and shrubland. It is now only 38% forested with Native & Exotic species. Supporting reforestation of NZ, creates & re-establishes habitats which in turn reduces net Co2 emissions and strengthens NZ’s biodiversity.

OUR INITIATIVES

We have introduced the following initiatives to reduce & counteract our direct emissions & our contributions to landfill (related to packaging & end-of-life hardware).

1. Converting BDL Company Vehicles to EV, PHEV and any other zero or lowest emission vehicles as they become available. BDL has converted 8 fleet vehicles over the past 18 months.
2. Gifting native trees to NZ via Trees that Count for each printer sold. BDL has gifted 1000 trees to NZ within the past year.
3. Promoting and using Cartridge Recycling via HP Planet Partners & “Close the Loop” for recycling toners cartridges. The toner cartridges collected are broken down for use in making bitumen for roads.
4. Recycling packaging waste & hardware through local partnerships; Kilmarnock Enterprises, RE:mobile, Sims Metals & Molten Media Trust. Once Hardware has reached end of life we utilise local branches of recycling organisations to recycle the machine componentry. The break down of equipment is complex, depending on the material involved. More specific information can be provided per model.

Packaging – All cardboard packaging is recycled by Waste Management NZ.

Wood pallets are donated to locals for re-use projects.

All equipment is stripped of reusable material in our workshop prior to removal to end-of life processing. Any part that can be reused on other equipment or for our own domestic purposes is re-used.

MEASURABLE IMPACT

Metrics in this area are hard to measure exactly – below are the indications of the impact of our efforts over the past year.

1. As around 84% of the NZ electricity supply is generated by renewable sources, conversion to an EV or well-managed PHEV in NZ can reduce the carbon footprint of a vehicle of up to 62% over its life cycle (calculated through end-to-end from manufacture through use and then recycling).
2. By donating Native Trees to NZ, we contribute to creating habitats & ecosystems to support endangered NZ Native Plants & Animals.
3. In turn, planting trees supports NZ’s green image which helps the economy & directly supports local jobs in horticulture.
4. Over 50 years 500 trees remove around 218 tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere which helps mitigate our environmental impact. Unlike exotic species, Native Trees can thrive for 1000’s of years creating a tangible legacy for future generations.
5. We sent around 300 cubic metres of cardboard to recycling facilities last year which is typically remanufactured into various forms of packaging such as cardboard boxes, egg cartons and weed matting.

BDL’s Environmental Philosophy & Policy