Unipart remains committed to eliminating carbon from its operations and supply chain. In the last 12 months, we’ve made significant progress through further engaging all colleagues in sustainability, developing a transportation plan that aligns to net zero, and continuing to support our customers and suppliers in our ambition. In 2023 we became the first organisation ever to be recognised with a world-class safety, wellbeing and sustainability ‘treble’ by the British Safety Council. Our consistent achievement of a five-star rating and the Globe of Honour for sustainability from the British Safety Council over twelve years, demonstrates our unwavering commitment to maintaining the highest environmental standards.

In the past year, Unipart has refined its business strategy to identify climate change risks and opportunities, aligning our operations with a 1.5°C warming planet. We’ve expanded our green product and service offerings, including Eco Insight, to help customers meet their carbon reduction goals. We’ve conducted Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) for manufactured products to identify carbon hotspots and adjusted our processes to start taking steps to review the carbon when the products and services we sell. 

The launch of our latest online learning module, Carbon Literacy, and our participation in the Zero Carbon Oxford Partnership highlight the importance of colleague education and external stakeholder collaboration in achieving our carbon reduction goals - we can’t do this alone. In 2024, Unipart sponsored the Oxford Climate Awards for the first time, recognising sustainable small businesses in Oxfordshire that are demonstrating exceptional commitment to environmental responsibility, energy efficiency, waste reduction and sustainable practices.

Looking ahead, Unipart will continue to improve data quality, moving from a spend-based approach to a supplier-specific approach, and provide carbon reporting at a more granular level. This will allow us to more accurately understand the key products and suppliers influencing emissions hotspots in our supply chain. Unipart will continue to expand its electric company vehicle fleet and supporting infrastructure, and invest in renewable and low emissions fuels within our transport, to tackle Scope 1 emissions.

Chief Sustainability Officer’s Introduction

Scope 2 Emissions
Indirect emissions from purchased energy

Scope 1 Emissions
Direct emissions from operations

Scope 3 Emissions
All other emissions associated with
activities throughout the value chain

In August 2023, Unipart had its Scope 1 and 2 near-term emissions reduction target approved by the Science Based Targets initiative as consistent with levels required to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. The SBTi also validated Unipart’s Scope 1, 2 and 3 long-term target as aligned with SBTi’s 1.5°C science-based net-zero pathways by 2050 or sooner. Unipart is committed to updating its carbon reduction plans and progress via the SBTi portal annually and achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across the value chain by 2040.

Planet

Unipart has made significant strides in its sustainability efforts. In just two years, the company has successfully eliminated 53,464 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent from its value chain.

To achieve a 90% reduction in emissions across Scopes 1,2 & 3

Reduction of Scope 1 and 2 emissions

Unipart's Commitment

Our Progress

Case Study: Hyperbat

Case Study: Unipart Logistics Nuneaton

The Eco Insight product, developed by Unipart, is an innovative energy monitoring and analytics platform that provides real time monitoring of energy and water consumption. Eco Insight provides Unipart colleagues and customers with the data needed to reduce consumption and cost.

Hyperbat, a UK-based Unipart site manufacturing electric vehicle battery packs, faced rising carbon emissions due to its energy-intensive assembly operations. Energy efficiency is a major challenge for UK industry and, according to the Carbon Trust, industry is responsible for 17% of the UK’s total energy use, most of which results from manufacturing. Lacking real-time insights into energy consumption, Hyperbat was unable to assess usage patterns, identify waste, or optimise efficiency. To address these issues and reduce carbon emissions Hyperbat implemented Eco Insight.

One key area of improvement was an unnecessary narrow temperature threshold in a climate-controlled area. Eco Insight revealed that the system was constantly heating or cooling to maintain a +/- 2°C temperature tolerance. By adjusting the temperature range to 2-5°C, Hyperbat significantly reduced the need for frequent and costly climate control interventions, ultimately reducing electricity consumption by 43,200 kWh, and saving £12,900 over the past year.

A logistics warehouse will often require heating, particularly during colder weather, to maintain suitable temperatures for storing goods. However, traditional heating methods often rely on natural gas, which increases the carbon output of direct operations. This presents a challenge for Unipart sites seeking to reduce their environmental impact.

Just like Hyperbat, Unipart Logistics’ Nuneaton site implemented Eco Insight to create targeted energy management plans, monthly consumption monitoring, and proactive communication of progress and improvement opportunities. This allowed teams to avoid using gas for heating offices or conference rooms, and focus solely on warehouse heating, activated with the General Manager’s approval.

Real-time data displayed on Eco Insight dashboards showed that electric heaters within the returns operation were consuming approximately 6,600 kWh per month of unnecessary energy during non-operating hours. Following this discovery, the team implemented a greater systemic control of electric heaters within the operation that achieved an 87% reduction in energy consumption and £16,693 of savings per year. By implementing innovative solutions like Eco Insight, Unipart as a whole reduced gas consumption by 12% in 2023 compared to the previous year.

Carbon Emissions
Data Report 2024