Change in Target: From Net Zero by 2025 to Carbon Neutral by 2027

Scotmas remains committed to reducing our environmental impact, but achieving Net Zero by 2025 has proven challenging without a heavy reliance on carbon offset credits.

While offsets can play a role in climate action, we believe they should complement—not substitute—genuine emissions reductions within our own operations.

We are therefore refining our approach and setting a new, more meaningful target: to become Carbon Neutral by 2027. Carbon neutrality focuses on accurately measuring our current carbon footprint, making sustained and verifiable reductions in our direct emissions, and responsibly offsetting only the residual emissions that cannot yet be eliminated.

Why move from Net Zero to Carbon Neutral?

Across industries, many companies are re-evaluating their Net Zero commitments due to:

1. Stringent standards – Frameworks like the Science Based Targets initiative require deep emission cuts before offsets, making some early timelines unrealistic.
2. Credibility concerns – There’s increasing public and regulatory scrutiny of net zero claims that rely too heavily on offsets, often criticised as greenwashing.
3. Technological and practical limits – Some necessary low-carbon technologies or supply chain changes are not yet fully available or scalable.
4. Focus on immediate, measurable progress – Carbon neutrality allows companies to show transparent, achievable reductions while still using high-quality offsets responsibly for unavoidable emissions.

By shifting to carbon neutrality, we are ensuring our environmental commitments remain ambitious, achievable, and credible—placing emphasis on tangible change rather than relying on future offsets to meet an earlier deadline.

Carbon Reduction Initiatives

Energy:

• 85 kW Solar Array on our main factory and office building
• Heat pump HVAC controls to reduce energy consumption
• Minor works such as destratification fans, air curtains and improved insulations to reduce heat loss.

Staff:

• Offer free charging facilities to staff in order to encourage the use of own electric vehicles
• Rolled out the LOVEELECTRIC car scheme, offered for staff to reduce the carbon from 250,000 miles commuted per year in 2020
• Continued participation in Cycle to Work scheme and provision of showers and changing facilities to encourage cycle use
• Complete annual commuter survey encouraging car shares and use of sustainable public transport

Manufacturing:

• Use 99% recycled or recyclable product packaging
• Engaged with specialist contractors to manage WEEE and to provide better guidance to customers on end-of-life disposal options
• Environmental management system certified to ISO14001

Governance:

• The carbon tonnages saved as a result of these initiatives form part of our annual CSR reports to shareholders

In 2024 we:

• Achieved B Corp accreditation
• Maintained our ISO 14001 accreditation
• Replaced all but one of our gas factory heating with air source heat pumps, powered by our solar panels and 100% renewable grid electricity. This saved a further 13.5 tCO2e per year
• Completed the transition of all fleet cars from fossil fuel to EV saving 5.6 tCO2e per year
• Through the LOVEELECTRIC car scheme and free at work charging, we encouraged the switch from fossil fuel to EV cars owned by staff from 8% of the total workforce in 2023 to 24% in 2024
• Continued to map and better understand our Scope 3 impacts where relevant to our operations with the roll out of detailed Supplier audits for our top 20 customers (80% of spend)
• Developed our CNC controlled plastic cutting process to incorporate closed-loop recycling – returning off cuts and manufacturing waste to the supplier to be turned into new plastic sheet. From 4162kg purchased 11% (460kg) were returned for closed loop recycling
• Improved the reuse of our water treatment plastic (HDPE) barrels from an average of 2.05 times in 2023 to 2.49 times in 2024.

In 2025 we will:

• Continue the transition of the full company vans to EV – we expect to be fully EV by 2028
• Install 6 x 22 kW electric car chargers to help use excess energy at weekends and evenings – we will continue to give free charging to all staff offering paid charging for the local community – all powered by our solar panels and 100% renewable grid electricity
• Roll out of certified service engineer training and augmented reality remote support tools, with priority given to export markets in order to minimise impact on site travel
• Map those suppliers with poor or no emissions reporting or a Carbon Reduction Plan – offering advice and access to resources to assist with this
• Adopt Triple Bottom Line reporting standards
• Implement grey water recycling initiatives on our site with the intention of halving our domestic water usage
• Set targets and enact operational improvements for increased Closed Loop Recycling to 25% and increase HDPE barrel reuse by 20% to over 3 times.
• Begin the process to map the Lifecycle Analysis of our key engineered water treatment systems
• Plan and research the high-quality carbon offset programs we will use in late 2026 to achieve Carbon Neutrality e.g. offering water filtration devices in SE Asia