When Sky resign their first TV inSky Glass , it was n’t just a all - in - one TV with its make - inDolby Atmossound system but , it could be argued , a realisation of its commitment to cede sustainable products .
Sustainability has become the watchword this retiring few years . With the effects of global warming as detectable in 2022 as they have been previously , companies have already begun the shift towards renewable and sustainable practices .
Sky have been be active towards a net zero carbon future tense for long than you might think . As an organisation , the Sky Group ( UK , Ireland , Germany and Italy ) has been carbon indifferent since 2006 . Over the last three to four geezerhood the company has been see to sympathize the impingement and scope their emissions have had , which has had an affect on the product that end up in your household . With 11,000 suppliers and a commitment to reduce emissions in line with the UK ’s pledge to be net zero C by the year 2050 , that ’s no easy feat .
We sit down and had a chat with Fiona Ball , Group Director of Bigger Picture ( Responsible Business , Sustainability , and Social Impact ) at Sky to verbalise how Sky Glass came to fruition , the Group ’s wide final zero policies and how it proceed to plow a track towards a more sustainable future .
Q : With Sky Glass , did the concept of do a TV arrive first or was the theme rooted in sustainability and then designed in line with that ?
A : So with Sky Glass , the approximation come first in terms of the sorting of new Cartesian product orbit that Sky want to go into it , but then as soon as the idea is manifest or understood , then sustainability is inherently part of the innovation of the intersection .
We ’ve got sustainability designers within our product teams correctly from the starting time . We ’re lucky that we plan the intersection ourselves , we identified the bill of cloth , we identify the suppliers that we want to work with . So all the way through that appendage , we ’ve incur [ that ] ensure over it [ with ] get-up-and-go efficiency , ambient lighting .
Our set top box , for example , have had eco standby and automobile standby in place to switch them off and save vim from 2006 , so that feature arrange was included within the TV ; having an element where , after a certain amount of sentence , [ the TV ] switch over itself off when it does n’t detect that a client is watch it or using it .
So there were destiny of intention elements right from the start that were plant within the whole outgrowth … even down to the promotional material . So , for example , the promotional material is really innovative . It ’s not only a completely recyclable packaging , but it ’s devoid from single utilisation plastic , which is a humans first for a TV .
Back in 2020 , we made a dedication to be single use of goods and services plastic free as an organisation across our product and our supply chain and in our own business , which is a loyalty we ’ve met . So no product shipped by Sky have any kind of single use plastic in it . So the polystyrene cable system tie-up , the charge plate around the plugs and thing which are quite substantial when you have [ some]thing as as big as a TV or a set top box seat .
In terms of your supply chain , do you choose which provider you work alongside in damage of sustainability or are you encourage them to be more sustainable ?
A bit of both to be perfectly honest . Our product supplying chain suppliers are better half that we ’ve worked with a lot for a longsighted time . So we ’ve been working with them on sustainability for a number of days now , and invested in free energy efficiency audited account at the factories – they have solar [ power ] base in China on site [ for ] renewable energy in the manufacturing plant , which does half of their energy requirements . So the bulk of our intersection suppliers , their suppliers and the foresightful term partner , we work with in term of manufacture and the efficiency of manufacturing .
Is there any way that you could observe or measure the amount of energy that they habituate or is that something they need to inform you about ?
No we can [ observe ] . There are path that we do for all our mathematical product provider . There ’s about 24 - 25 main product suppliers within that supply chain , and we do get first deal primary information on the vigor use from them , and we also bear a number of audits as well .
So we do responsible source audit with our suppliers on a regular fundament , where we ’ll not only wait at Department of Energy , but we ’re looking at human right , put to work environment , wellness and safety compliance , all sorts of unlike things . So we ’ve get teams that are incessantly there , on site , so we can get that information .
And in full term of carbon offset , there is the planting of the trees in Scotland . There ’s been contention about how long it can take to set off the carbon copy . Can you annotate on that ?
Of of course . So in term of the actual atomic number 6 disinterest of the production for Sky Glass , the planting of the trees in Scotland is an “ summation ” , it ’s not part of the carbon neutrality claim , because you ’re right if you plant a tree it can take 40 years in edict to be big enough to absorb the carbon . So that piece of work we did in the Cairngorms [ Scottish Highlands ] is part of our net zero commitment to invest in nature .
So it ’s not part of our atomic number 6 neutrality claim . When you make a carbon neutrality title it has to be verify with something call theVoluntary Carbon Standard , VCS verification [ now referred to as Verified Carbon Standard ] . So you get a security for the amount of carbon you are offset so it ’s very , very clear [ how much is being offset ] .
So as part of the carbon disinterest claim , we ’ve done that in two fashion . We ’ve buy muscularity certificates for the renewable energy . So for the carbon paper associate with the use of the mathematical product we buy certificates for that , and then for the remain atomic number 6 , we ’ve bought BCS projects , so carbon offset printing that we have a certificate for that [ too ] . We ’ve done that through a company calledClimate Impact Partnerswho have a carbon paper inert protocol .
So it ’s very much avow and stamped that you ’re bring about it , but no , the planting the tree is an additional thing that we did . We ’re very passionate about reforestation and regaining of nature , but it was not part of our carbon copy indifferent play .
So in full term of delivering a Sky Glass TV to client , is there a way you may do that that ’s atomic number 6 efficient ? Has there been some sentiment on how it can be more effective in terms of transportation ?
Ys , definitely . So for a issue of our products , we ’ve got our own engineers and delivery partners that we utilise . For our own engineers , we ’ve start a commitment for all our engineering band to move to galvanizing vehicles in the next four or five years time . So by 2030 , all of our our vans will be zero emanation fleet .
We have about 3000 vehicle currently . We ’re currently piloting electric intercrossed chaw in vehicle [ of which ] we ’ve got about 150 currently . But we ’re decidedly monitor that and moving as tight as we can . We do measure the shock , we do value all of the distribution to client homes , and as part of our carbon neutral claim for our line , we do offset emission that we have n’t melt off yet . So yes , it ’s definitely within within that [ carbon paper neutral claim ] .
There was mention of carbon quotation as well . Could you go into more detail in terms of what that entails for Sky ’s business ?
Yes , the carbon credits is part of the purchase of offsets that is part of the voluntary C standard process . So we buy our carbon credit through Climate Impact Partners , who [ act as ] a factor to help oneself make the Glass product carbon inert .
So we would buy the right amount of carbon credits to the carbon associated to the life-time of the TD mathematical product , which is seven days .
In terms of just energy consumption , how much people could relieve if they corrupt Sky Glass compare to another TV or is that something you ca n’t quite measure ?
So if a customer grease one’s palms the Sky tv set , then Sky Glass would salve up to 50 % of electrical energy compare to if a customer buy a TV , countersink top box and the soundbar [ as individual element ] .
And what happens to the packaging for the TV ? Does Sky keep the boxes or do you recycle them ?
If the promotion is n’t damage and it ’s it ’s able-bodied to be reprocess , we use it . We have a UK centre for any returns or maintenance that require to be done [ for ] Glass . So they will go back to the logistics centre , then the first thing is we will use it . Secondly would be that we recycle the promotion completely , because every exclusive component of the packaging can be recycled .
There are various sustainability standards about such asCradle to Cradle . Are you sticking to your own standards , or do you also look at other standard and endeavor to meet them as well ?
Yes , so , we do n’t practice our own standard . It ’s all outside measure for absolutely everything when it comes to sustainability .
We do a lifecycle assessment which is ISO ( International Organization for Standardisation ) standard swear . So that bet at product design , component , packaging , manufacturer , distribution , customer and reuse and recycling . That is done for us by an independent third party , which isGiraffe Innovation , because plain we ca n’t measure and score our own piece of work .
So all of our lifecycle assessments are done by an independent [ organisation ] . That then has an external review , so when Giraffe do an assessment of our products in term of sustainability that ’s independently reviewed . When we then wanted to make that atomic number 6 neutral , we then went to another organization that follow an international communications protocol , which is theCarbon Neutral Protocol – we did that through Climate Impact Partners .
So in condition of our overall commitment for net zero carbon copy as an organisation , and looking at the whole of our value chain , we follow theScience Based Target Initiativethat verifies and looks at the overall step of an organization and what targets you are place ourselves to stay below 1.5 level warming . So our 50 % reduction commitment be last zero carbon by 2030 is externally verified by a troupe called Science Based Target Initiative .
In terms of just [ whole ] organization , are Sky Italy and Germany follow the same sustainability agreements ?
Yes , we run this from a group perspective . So that include all of our cognitive process in Germany , Ireland , etc
And would that be the same for [ parent company ] Comcast or does Comcast do its own thing in the US ?
So Comcast are also setting their environmental targets . They ’ve run out with a public target to be atomic number 6 impersonal by 2035 . So they are front at what their skill based aim would be across all of their value chain of mountains , so yes , they are moving definitely in that direction .
In heed to upcoming products like theSky Stream puck , because it ’s such a small equipment , in what room could you be sustainable about the transit and delivery of smaller detail ?
So like all Cartesian product we bring to market , we do this lifecycle assessment and that ’s a way that we can identify where there ’s opportunities to further improve the sustainability . The fact that the Sky puck is so small is part of the overall sustainability design .
We ’re constantly looking at how can we deliver the same great contentedness and stratum of serve to our client in a smaller invention that use less materials , that necessitate less space when shipped to be freighted , so the fact that it is small shows that we ’re doing well in terms of sustainable blueprint .
But it will also also meet all of our prerequisite around sustainable promotional material . So it will be single utilization plastic free promotional material , it will come [ package ] in recycled and recyclable cardboard . The fact that it ’s small and does n’t have a big impact just establish that the sustainability conception is working well .
