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Cairn’s Carbon Reduction Plan 2024 reduces Scope 1 emissions to zero

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Cairn Technology has released its Carbon Reduction Plan for 2024, showing a negligible 2.6% increase in its overall carbon equivalent emissions, despite a significant increase in business activities.

What’s more, it has also reduced its Scope 1 carbon emissions to zero.

All of the above has been achieved through a combination of insetting and offsetting approaches.

Scope 1 Insetting & Offsetting Measures

In terms of insetting, our move to having more hybrid and electric vehicles for our field-based team of consultants has continued to have a positive impact on minimising Scope 1 carbon emissions from our company vehicles.

This is reflected in the fact that we have only seen a 17.5% increase in our Scope 1 emissions in 2024, despite our field-based consultants travelling 22.7% more miles than in 2023.

That said, the short-term goal for our carbon reduction journey outlined in our 2023 Carbon Reduction Plan was to bring our Scope 1 net carbon emissions down to zero for 2024.

To achieve this, we have used carbon offsetting, by investing in the Carbon FootprintTM UK Tree Planting Scheme.

This scheme saw 85,000 native broadleaf trees planted in the UK over 2024, across 27 different species.

Our funding will help support the planting of trees in the Yorkshire and Humber region in school locations, helping to educate children and support wildlife habitats, whilst sequestering carbon emissions.

Scope 3 Insetting Measures

Carbon emission insetting also had a positive impact on our Scope 3 emissions total, through the continued use of our hybrid working model and consolidation of product deliveries, wherever possible.

These measures ensured that we only saw an increase of 4.19% in Scope 3 emissions from 2023 to 2024, despite the turnover of the business increasing by 6.3% in the same period.

Sharon Evans, Sales & Marketing Manager of Cairn Technology says: “We recognise how important it is to support our NHS and private hospital clients in their journey towards Net Zero.

“For this reason, our Carbon Reduction Leadership Team is drawn from across sales, marketing, logistics and finance to ensure a truly business-wide focus on minimising our carbon footprint within the company.

“For 2025, our eye is already on further opportunities for carbon insetting and offsetting to ensure that our carbon equivalent emissions are kept to a minimum as our business activities continue to grow.”

See our Carbon Reduction Plan 2024

To see our full Carbon Reduction Plan for 2024 just click here.

 

Helping you towards Net Zero with medical devices

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Are you aiming to reach Net Zero with the medical devices that you use in your hospital? Do you know that you can cut costs, waste and carbon emissions with Stille’s handcrafted surgical instruments?

Swedish surgical instrument brand, Stille, is renowned for its durability, precision and handling. In fact, Stille is so sure of the quality of its products that every instrument is warrantied for 30 years.

But how can handcrafted instruments made from high quality stainless steel and titanium be more cost-effective than cheaper reusable instruments, or even disposable ones?

The answer is revealed by analysing Cost-per-Use. Take a pair of Stille scissors costing £150 that is used for 30 years and another brand costing £80 that is used to its maximum warranty of 10 years. You can quickly calculate how much cheaper Stille instruments are per use. Just see below.

Reusable surgical instruments made by Stille offer reduced lifetime cost and carbon emissions,

Further cost savings

As Stille instruments last for a minimum of 30 years if used, cared for, and serviced correctly, you will also save on the cost of purchasing a greater volume of instruments over that 30-year period.

So, if you are considering buying a cheaper instrument that is half the price of a Stille one, but is only warrantied for 10 years, you will end up paying a third more over the 30-year period than by investing in Stille instruments. In other words, £240 for three £80 instruments, instead of £150 for one Stille equivalent.

Environmental Benefits

Every surgical instrument that is made takes its toll on the environment through extraction of materials, manufacturing and shipping. By using Stille instruments instead of shorter-lasting reusables or disposables, you can significantly reduce the carbon footprint of your surgical instrument inventory.

What’s more, you will not only be reducing the number of surgical instruments that need to be disposed of at the end of their useful life, but you will also be able to minimise the carbon emissions associated with the disposal of the instruments used in your hospital.

To view our 2024 Carbon Reduction Plan, click here.

 

Do you want to view the Stille range?

To see the Stille range of instruments, just click here to browse our website.

Or if you would like to handle the instruments to get more of a feel for them, just call 0333 015 4345 to speak to our team or email us at info@cairntechnology.com.

If you can’t find what you need in the Stille range, we also offer other quality instrument brands for such things as laparoscopic surgery. Just contact us to let us know what you are looking for.

 

Cairn’s Carbon Reduction Plan shows sharp fall in emissions

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Medical product and service supplier to the NHS and private hospitals, Cairn Technology, has completed its Carbon Reduction Plan for its base year, 2023.

Although 2023 is the first year that the company has actively calculated its carbon emissions, it already has an ethos of trying to minimise its impact on the environment.

This has included suppling reusable surgical instruments that come with a 30-year warranty to superabsorbent theatre mats that can significantly reduce the volume of less absorbent mats going into clinical waste.

2023 saw Cairn Technology also focus on reducing carbon emissions relating to its operations. Whilst it already sources products from Europe to minimise delivery miles travelled, it has significantly reduced carbon emissions in two other key areas:

1. Scope 1 emissions have been slashed by almost 30%

2023 saw Cairn Technology make a 29.9% reduction in carbon emissions from the company cars used by some of its staff, including its consultants who deliver workplace exposure monitoring in hospitals across the UK.

This reduction was achieved by switching to lower carbon emission company cars, such as hybrid or fully electric.

2. Employee commuting emissions have been cut by 45%

Post pandemic, Cairn gave its office staff the choice to work flexibly with a split of home and office-based working.

By implementing this hybrid working structure, we have lowered our scope 3 category 7 employee commuting emissions by 45%.

Carbon emission reduction aims for the future

The company aims to become Net Zero for Scope 1 for the reporting year 2024 through carbon offsetting schemes.

Its longer-term commitment is to achieve Net Zero across all relevant scopes and categories by 2050, at the latest.

Director Peter Binns says: “Cairn Technology began in 1999 as an environmental consultancy that helped companies to reduce their emissions to atmosphere through continuous monitoring and manage the environmental impact of chemical spills. So environmental performance is deeply ingrained in Cairn’s identity.

“Our yearly Carbon Reduction Plans are a useful way to show our NHS and private hospital clients how we are supporting them in their own plans towards Net Zero.”

Read our full 2023 Carbon Reduction Plan

To find out about other ways in which we have reduced our carbon emissions, click here to read our full Carbon Reduction Plan for 2023.

If you would like to see the independent audit of the plan email info@cairntechnology.com for your copy.