Carbon emissions are still extremely high across the globe, and with environment and climate change leading the news agenda, anything that we can do as an SME to reduce the environmental impact, makes a world of difference. There are lots of areas within our business where we have acted to become more environmentally friendly. Recently, we updated our company vehicles, in total there are 32 vans we own that are out on the road, all of which now comply with the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) standards.

The ULEZ replaced the T-Charge on 8 April 2019. It operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year, within the same area as the Congestion Charge zone. It has been introduced as one of the many ways to help reduce the most harmful emissions generated by road transport in central London and across the Capital.

At Artic, our main aim was to try and keep emissions to a minimum. We assessed our current vehicle fleet, we looked at fuel consumption and the average MPG (miles per gallon) of each vehicle. In order to make our fleet greener, we bought vehicles with lower CO2 emissions with higher MPG. Several of the vans were exchanged for Peugeot Partners, these have lower C02 emissions and they fall into a rating of A. We were also able to remove the worst performing vehicles altogether.

We are proud to keep the green initiative at the forefront of all our employee’s minds, we encourage efficient route planning, maintaining correct tyre pressure and the removal of excess weight from the vehicles – these have reduced the amount of fuel used and all help to reduce emissions. The benefits of cleaner, greener vehicles in the form of reduced emissions will help reduce exhaust NOx and PM emissions, helping to improve air quality and making central London a safer and more pleasant place to live, work and visit.

In the future we look to purchase Electric Vans (EVs). We hope to contribute to improving air quality, reduce climate change, and reduce overall CO2 emissions in the World.