Environmental Policy

Thistle Seafoods Limited

Environmental Statement 2023

The purpose of this policy is to outline the activities undertaken by Thistle Seafoods Ltd. to minimise the impact of our manufacturing and commercial processes on the environment.

We will address this by:

Governance

Acting responsibly and adopting industry best practice by:

• Complying with all relevant UK and international legislation and regulations.
• Aligning with relevant Codes of Practice, Coalitions, and Initiatives.
• Regularly reviewing and aiming to minimise the environmental impact of our current and planned activities.
• Striving to continually improve our environmental performance KPI’s.
• Communicating our environmental commitment to our customers and the public through the Company website via our Environmental Statement.
• Maintaining dialogue with our key suppliers regarding sustainability and responsible sourcing.
• Annually disclosing our emissions and forestry data through CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project) with the aim of improving the result year on year.
• Annual disclosure to Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) Food Waste Reduction Roadmap with the aim to reduce food waste year on year.

Engineering

Improving our resource efficiency (including our energy, water, and raw materials).  This includes:

• The use of an electrical soft start on commencement of production to spread the load and prevent a spike into the main grid.
• Load shifting the cold store power use from peak to off peak (high national grid demand to low national grid demand).
• Reduce site use of compressed air, primarily by increased staff awareness and focus on reporting.
• Where possible, the use of solenoid valves to reduce water wastage.
• Purchasing and use of environmentally responsible products accordingly.  This will include the use of ammonia refrigerant gas, rather than Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC).
• Identifying more efficient manufacturing processes that will reduce the amount of packaging and raw material waste.

Factory Waste Recycling

Increasing our recycling percentage of factory waste.  This includes:

• Waste frying oil being used for biofuel and sediment for anaerobic digestion.
• Food waste sent for anaerobic digestion.
• Recycling cardboard and plastic.
• Recycling where possible in offices and the canteen.
• Recycling of printer cartridges for re-use.
• Purchasing recycled, recyclable, or refurbished products and material where practicable.

Carbon Reduction

Setting an on-site carbon neutrality goal and aspiring to net zero, in line with industry and customer requirements. Measures we are taking include:

• Reducing the carbon footprint of transport by using double deck trailers and consolidating deliveries from suppliers where possible.
• Providing buses for employees for all production shifts to reduce emissions.

Health & Safety/Training

Ensuring the safety of our employees and environment through:

• Training, educating, and informing our employees about our environmental programme so they can actively contribute ideas and solutions to reducing the environmental impact of our activities.
• Minimising and where possible excluding the use of hazardous materials and products.  COSHH assessments on all hazardous chemicals help to identify less hazardous alternatives where practical and available.  If hazardous materials must be used, then reasonable steps will be taken to protect human health and the environment, and the use and impact on the environment will be monitored.  For example, the company will monitor the effluent at the licensed sea outfall on a daily basis; this will be monitored by SEPA on a monthly basis.
• Developing and maintaining appropriate emergency and spill response programmes where they are required by legislation or where significant health, safety or environmental hazards exist.  This will include:

             - The use of bunded areas to prevent the risk associated with a spillage from oil tanks.
             - The use of bunded pallets for storage of hazardous chemicals.
             - The use of interceptors to manage any yard spillages.  The inceptors will be cleaned regularly                   by a licensed contractor.

• Reporting, monitoring, and investigating environmental incidents.

Environmental Policy Review

This policy is reviewed on an annual basis by the Environmental Committee.

Approval for this Statement

This statement was approved by the Board of Directors on 11th May 2023.

Pamela Macdougall
11th May 2023