As a business, we have a responsibility to minimise our environmental impact and prioritise sustainability in all our actions.

Two years ago, we changed the paper used to print the handbooks for our Optidrive variable frequency drives during the production process to paper used as part of the Forest Carbon project.

This means that when we buy recycled paper from our local supplier, a portion of the cost goes towards planting trees. This helps contribute to the capture of CO2e from the environment. In addition, we only print a handbook as a drive is being assembled. This way, we only print what we need and there is no wastage.

• During 2022 we supported the planting of 57.8 trees covering an area of 361 sq. metres at The Croft, Penrith, and we enabled the capture of 14,424 kilogrammes of CO2e.
• In 2023, we planted 44.2 new trees covering an area of 276 sq. metres at the same woodland and we supported the capture of 11,032 kilogrammes of CO2e.

Forest Carbon leads the way in developing woodland creation and peatland restoration projects for carbon capture and ecosystem services in the UK.

While our contribution is to the planting of trees in Cumbria, the project also has a peat project in the nearby Berwyn mountain range in Wales, UK.

More than 10.3 million trees planted across 220 new woodlands

Since 2006, the project has collaborated with partners, such as Invertek Drives, to plant more than 10.3 million new trees across 220 new woodlands. This has resulted in the removal of over 2.1 million tonnes of CO2e from the atmosphere, in addition to other benefits such as habitat creation, support for biodiversity, flood mitigation, improvement of river ecosystems, and public access.

“Our new woodland schemes spread across Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland. They are certified by the Woodland Carbon Code – which is supported by the UK government and internationally recognised by ICROA. Planting the ‘right tree in the right place’ is required though adherence to the Forestry Commission standards,” said a spokesperson for the project.

“Our peatland schemes can be found in Scotland and Wales. They are certified by the Peatland Code which is supported by the IUCN. These certification codes assure the additionality and permanence of each tonne of carbon stored.

“Outside of the UK our partners have offset a further 1 million tonnes CO2 and protected or planted more than three million trees.”

For media information, contact:
Owain Betts, PR and Communications Manager
t: +44 (0)1938 558 253
m: +44 (0)7483 072 739
e: Owain.Betts@shi-g.com