Biffa’s emissions targets validated by Science Based Targets initiative

Biffa, the UK’s leading sustainable waste management company, has today announced that its near-term scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions targets have been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), demonstrating the company’s commitment to the Paris Agreement goals, which aim to restrict global warming to less than 2°C by 2050. Today Biffa also announces the publication of the Group’s latest Sustainability Report, detailing its progress towards its sustainability and social value targets during the financial year 2022-2023. 

Biffa has committed to reducing absolute scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030 from a 2019 base year, and reducing absolute scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2030 from a 2022 base year. Additionally, Biffa has committed that 27.6% of its suppliers by emissions, covering purchased goods and services, upstream transportation and distribution, and waste generated in operations, will have science-based emissions targets by 2027. 

The SBTi is a collaboration between CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), which defines and promotes best practice in setting science-based emission reductions targets.  

Michael Topham, Biffa’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “This validation from SBTi is a testament to the hard work and dedication of everyone at Biffa to ensure sustainability continues to be at the heart of our business. We are committed to leading the way in sustainable waste management and have already made great progress in reducing our scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions by almost 30% compared to our 2019 baseline, but we need to go further. Through fostering strong partnerships with our suppliers, we aim to be a sustainability leader, creating a culture and supply chain that actively pursues innovation, efficiency and transparency. 

“Biffa has an important role to play in delivering sustainable solutions to help combat the UK’s waste challenges, and our latest Sustainability Report highlights the steps we have taken towards reducing both our own environmental impact and that of our customers, and supporting our communities. These small steps can lead to big change, which we can all play a role in.” 

Scope 1 emissions relate to those that an organisation owns or control directly, whereas scope 2 are emissions that a company causes indirectly and come from where the energy it purchases and uses is produced. Scope 3 encompasses emissions that are not produced by the company itself, rather the supply chain.  

In Biffa’s latest Sustainability Report, published today, it demonstrates the additional steps it is taking in its commitment to Net Zero against its three key pillars; enabling a circular economy, tackling climate change, and caring for its people and supporting the communities in which it operates. Key highlights include: 

• Reducing waste through its 14 Company Shop stores and 12 Community Shops across the UK, redistributing over 109 million products, and avoiding 41,445 tonnes of waste. 
• Collecting over four million tonnes of waste with over 3,100 vehicles during the past financial year, improving collection route efficiency (lifts per km) by 7%. 
• Over 99% of the waste plastics traded from Biffa’s sorting and transfer facilities were sent for recycling in the UK (100% within OECD), with a recycling capacity of 167,000 tonnes and over 10 billion items of packaging recycled each year. 
• Achieved significant increase in their Employee Engagement score – up 4% to 63%. 
• Expanded its fleet of electric and alternative fuel vehicles to 120.