_Knight Frank at 125: Our plastic-free drive and commitment to ESG
Internally, our efforts as an employer and contributor to the real estate industry are guided through Knight Frank's responsible business programme, Building Foundations, with ‘People, Place, Planet’ approach at its core.
We focus on supporting our people fully, giving back to communities who support us and caring for our planet by adhering to sustainable business practices and operations.
Committed to reducing our footprint as a business we've already achieved:
- Recycling 60% of our rubbish and reducing waste burden by appointing a waste broker to maximise waste diversion away from landfill into waste to energy
- Replacing nearly all our in-house café packaging with 100% compostable and eco-friendly vegware
- Refining our stationery list prioritising reusable / refillable items or products with a higher recycling content
- Stopped using laminates on the majority of our marketing materials
- Issued Knight Frank employees with reusable and fully recyclable metal water bottles, removing on average 350,000 plastic bottles from waste circulation over the next 12 months
We know that there is still much to be done and, conscious of the global impact from discarded plastics, our three-year goal is:
- To reduce our reliance on single-use products, becoming plastic-free by 2022
- To reduce paper consumption by 50% by the end of 2021
We've also partnered with the UK's leading marine conservation charity @Surfers Against Sewage which deals with a wide spectrum of marine conservation issues from marine litter to climate change.
We also keep up-to-date with all the relevant environmental legislation and regulations, and monitor our progress so that we can produce a regular status report for internal review. This way we can build towards our commitment to becoming a greener, more holistic business.
Externally, our ESG Taskforce leads our efforts to ensure we are always driving a sustainable business agenda.
Many of our Green Ambassadors are deep in ESG conversations with clients every day, helping them to understand how ESG considerations can impact risk and return and shape value in multiple ways.
We ensure they meet changing legislation and demand, advising on how they may fully achieve sustainable property occupation, development and investment to generate positive, measurable social and environmental impact for good.
Knight Frank went 'plastic free' in 2019
For example, many occupiers we are working with today are looking for practical advice and guidance on how to make their workplaces, living spaces and public buildings more sustainable and environmentally friendly, with better facilities for staff wellness and wellbeing. As a firm, we are at the forefront of this step change as sustainability becomes part of our firm's, and the wider built environment's, DNA.
You can find out more about ESG and how we work with clients promoting and applying practical strategies and solutions to help them become more sustainable now and in the future.
You can also find out more about what we do as a firm to reduce our carbon footprint, our pledge to become more a responsible and sustainable business and give back through our Day of Giving initiative.