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Environment

Reducing our carbon footprint

At OCS we want to do the right thing for people in the here and now. Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do, whether it’s a focus on our team members or the communities in which we operate. Just as importantly, we play an integral role in the sustainability journey of many of our clients; contributing innovative initiatives to meet their own sustainability objectives.

For more information on our Environmental commitments, targets and future plans, read our 2022 OCS Australia & NZ Sustainability Report.

Our net zero commitment

We are proud to announce our net zero carbon target date of 2040.

OCS is committed to reducing our carbon footprint. Our sustainability strategy is fully embedded into our core business strategy and we are committed to operating responsibly to protect our environment. We’ve developed systems, processes and have adopted technological innovations to reduce our customers’ and our own energy consumption, water usage, carbon emissions and waste.

We've adopted a number of environmental initiatives in our global operations. In New Zealand we’re working on a number of exciting initiatives with our customers, suppliers, team members and in our local communities. Examples include our commitment to increase the number of hybrid or electric vehicles in our fleet, reduce travel through the use of technology and to work with key customers to meet their own waste reduction ambitions.

Our 2040 net zero carbon target date commitment is made to reduce emissions in line with the Paris agreement goals. To achieve this we set ourselves aspirational environmental standards, which meet and often exceed legislative requirements.

Customer partnerships in New Zealand

We work closely with our customers to introduce sustainable solutions that reduce their impact on the environment. This extends beyond our own operations to our supply chain.

Sustainability in practice

OCS New Zealand is ISO 14001 certified (Northern Regional office/National Support Office only). We are a member of the Climate Leaders Coalition and the Sustainable Business Council and our Managing Director, Gareth Marriott, is chair of its advisory board.

As signatories to the Climate Leaders Coalition, we are acting on climate change now, to create a future that is focused on low emissions, positive for our businesses and the economy, and inclusive for all New Zealanders.

Since 2015, OCS has worked alongside over 100 other key businesses on the New Zealand Sustainable Business Council, working in unity to reduce emissions, adopting sustainable procurement policies and reporting back to the Council on various sustainability actions.

OCS NZ has been working with Toitū Envirocare since 2019. In 2020, 2021 and 2022 we offset our carbon emissions, purchasing carbon credits for the entire Australasian business (excluding 1M) and becoming a Toitū Envirocare net carbonzero certified organisation in line with ISO 14064-1.

Toitū net carbonzero certified

We measure our greenhouse gas emissions and are committed to managing and reducing our emissions in respect of all operational activities of our organisation within New Zealand. 

Going forward we will continue to offset our emissions and be a carbon neutral business. Our certification from Toitū Envirocare shows that we’re taking action on climate change, accurately measuring and reducing our greenhouse gas footprint.

OCS is proactively assessing the potential risks & opportunities to our business from climate related changes. We will publicly disclose the findings from this assessment in 2023.

For past Sustainability reports, please click on the links below:

Since 2017, OCS NZ has reduced our total gross carbon emissions by 32.2%.

The sustainability commitments that we are signing up to are tangible ones. My role will be to make sure they are thoughtfully integrated into our business planning cycles to drive progression and delivery.

James Darnton
OCS Group Finance Director

OCS Group Sustainability Strategy

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