Taylors of Harrogate case study: Carbon Emissions

Taylors of Harrogate’s journey to carbon neutrality began in 2015 in partnership with Natural Capital Partners. The first step was to work with an independent expert to measure and verify the volume of carbon emitted into the atmosphere by the business, not just in its UK operations, but at every stage of its supply chain from tea bush to supermarket shelf.

Taylors then embarked upon a unique programme which supported projects directly within its tea and coffee supply chains, ensuring they balanced emissions while also supporting the tea farms and communities on which the business depends.

Taylors worked with TIST (The International Small Group and Tree Planting Programme) to encourage smallholder tea farmers to plant fruit and nut trees around tea gardens. These trees help the environment by soaking up carbon, but also provide valuable secondary incomes, along with shade and food. So far, this project has helped to plant over 1.5 million trees around the Mount Kenya region with over 4,000 tea farmers.

Alongside tree planting in Kenya, the business is also supporting projects to distribute fuel efficient cookstoves to smallholder farmers in Malawi. These stoves use less fuel and reduce indoor air pollution while burning just as hot. This cookstove project contributes to balancing the carbon footprint by avoiding deforestation and so ensuring trees are preserved.

As well as offsetting within the supply chain, Taylors of Harrogate has made efforts to reduce its carbon emissions overall. These include:

• 100% of gas and electricity at its Harrogate HQ coming from renewable sources.
• Onsite solar panels which generate enough energy to power 80 UK homes for a year.
• Rainwater collection for flushing toilets and zero waste to landfill.
• Working with the Kenyan Tea Development Agency to assess energy efficiency in factories and find way to make savings

For more information, please see this webpage.

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