We have just received the results of latest Toitū Envirocare audit, for our 2024 reporting year. We are pleased to share that we have reduced our carbon emissions even further, making our total reduction 51% since our base year.

We have been partnered with Toitū Envirocare for the past five years; reporting all company emissions and the actions we take to minimise them. For the first three years, we worked incredibly hard to reach our goal of reducing emissions by 30%. In that time however, we accomplished a whopping 40% total reduction in emissions, and our work in the last two years has continued these reductions.

It is no small feat, considering that in the first three years we tackled the areas considered ‘low hanging fruit’. As each year and audit now passes, we must work harder to reach our goal of 55% reduction by 2026 and carbon neutral by 2030.

Across the business, three areas held our focus: waste to landfill, carbon dioxide (CO2) consumption, and travel.

Waste to landfill:

  • Increase of recycling bins for specific materials across our three sites, minimising the amount of general waste being collected.
  • Identified waste streams that come out of our production operations to help with identifying potential options for each.
  • Developed a circular economy with some production suppliers, where we send back ‘waste’ parts for them to reuse.
  • Working with local councils and Sustainable is Attainable (in Hawke’s Bay) to find the best alternatives for waste streams that have no obvious solutions available.

CO2 use:

  • WineWorks Marlborough has successfully cut the use of CO2 from all operations.
  • Our Auckland team are working on ways to reduce and eventually eliminate the use of CO2 on the site.
  • WineWorks Hawke’s Bay will still rely on CO2 use due to their sparkling wine production.

Travel:

  • Staff travel has dropped significantly over the past year to reduce cost and our carbon footprint.
  • Each team member is encouraged to use virtual meetings rather than travel between sites, travel is only used when required to be physically onsite.

Sustainability is embedded into all facets of WineWorks. It is part of our culture, how we operate, and as a crucial tool to support our clients in their own initiatives. If your business can benefit from joining Toitū, contact them today and start your own journey!