At Audience Systems, we aim to be a responsible member of our community, to be a good employer to our staff, and to lead our industry in terms of environmental management. To that end, as well as meeting our statutory responsibilities, we actively work every day on reducing our environmental impact.
Durability
The length of a product's life has a major impact on carbon footprint. Our products enjoy a typical lifecycle of over twenty years, and are specifically designed to be easy to service and repair, with parts that are easy to replace. We also offer spares packages, allowing customers to undertake small repairs themselves.
Energy Use
With the help of EU 'Net Zero' funding, we have improved the efficiency of our heating, lighting and compressors. We are continuing to take steps to reduce our energy use, including a rolling programme of further upgrades to our production equipment. We currently draw 30% of our electricity from our own solar panels; the rest comes from sustainable sources.
Waste Management
We actively seek to reduce our production of waste. For example, we have made major investments in CNC machinery which optimises material use.
We manage and segregate our waste streams to minimise landfill. Wherever possible, we re-use waste and offcuts within our own production facility, or donate it to local charities for repurposing.
People
We are instigating a programme of training and development to support these goals. We have achieved silver certification with the Supply Chain Sustainabilty School and will continue to use this tool to upskill our people.
We train site staff in best environmental practice on site, including waste procedures, COSHH, safeguarding of people and wildlife, risk assessment and accident reporting.
Materials and Components
We ensure that our key suppliers have environmental safeguards in place relevant to their industry. We source locally wherever possible, and regularly review our materials to identify possible substitutions which would lower our environmental impact.
Although the final choice of fabric is at the discretion of the client, we offer a choice of fabrics that cater for different types of venue as sustainably as possible. For heavy use environments, a 100% post-consumer recycled polyster may actually be the most sustainable choice, becasue of its long life and outstanding durability. As an alternative, we offer durable fabrics based on natural fibres such as wool and flax.
Carbon Footprint
We periodically measure and report our carbon footprint and emissions using the Carbon Sustainability tool (https://carbon.sustainabilitytool.com). Details can be provided on request.
Indoor Air Quality
We have tested representative samples of retractable platforms and chairs for emissions of three key chemicals: VOCs, formaldehyde and acetaldehyde. The emissions fell within safe limits specified within the BREEAM, LEED and WELL standards, and we can supply details to building designers on request.
End of Life and Recyclability
At the end of our product life, we can provide disassembly instructions, drawings, and/or a written strip out sequence. Our products are assembled with standard fixings throughout enabling them to be disassembled into component materials using standard hand and power tools. Analysis of our products shows that typically retractable platforms and tiering have a recyclable content over 70%, while chairs have a recyclable content of over 60%.
Mileage
We have reduced travel for all staff by using video conferencing wherever possible and introducing hybrid home and office working. We have hybrid or electric company vehicles where practical.
You can download a statement of where we currently are on our sustainability journey here.