At Certainly Wood, sustainability and a responsibility to the environment are part of our ethos and as such, we are taking steps to use less plastic on our products. We care about Herefordshire and surrounding counties.

Less Plastic Logo

We have introduced a new logo to use across our packaging and point of sale material to highlight where we can make savings, not only in using less plastic but also in reducing our overall packaging and waste.

Where you see the logo, there will be a link to this page to highlight everything we have changed to make a difference.

Whilst we will be doing everything we can to reduce plastic and waste, this has to be a shared responsibility so we also ask for your help.


What can you do to help? – a few suggestions

  • When you place your order consider the packaging element.
  • Order the 1.2m3 large bulk bags where possible rather than buying the small plastic bags from local Herefordshire retailers.
  • Order in larger quantities. This minimises the number of deliveries you have per year, which means less CO2 emissions. It will also reduce packaging. E.g. if you buy Flamers in boxes of 24's or 50’s, consider buying a box of 200’s.
  • Can you perhaps combine orders with your neighbours? Consider our Community Buy Scheme. It will cost you less and it will significantly reduce delivery miles! 
  • Make sure you order everything at the same time. Avoid separate orders of kindling and Flamers that we have to send by courier. Saves you a lot of money too!
  • When you have emptied your bulk bags, either use them for garden waste etc or ideally fold them up, leave in the garage and give them to the driver to return to us for re-using on your next delivery.

What are we doing?

Plastic Bags

The Challenge

Can we sell logs to customers and retailers and make sure the product stays dry? Cardboard can be used but it is much bulkier for you to get rid of. If it gets wet, it will disintegrate and its about five times the cost!

What we have done so far

  • We have reduced the thickness of the plastic down from 110 micron to 90 micron – That’s nearly 20% less plastic and therefore we have used 2 tonnes less plastic! Manufacturers are continually improving materials and this reduction does not affect strength.
  • We have made sure that the material used is 100% recyclable.
  • We are using a minimum of 30% recycled material.

Flamers Packaging

The Challenge

We have a plastic window on the smaller packs to show off the product. How do we avoid this?

What we have done so far

  • We now have the window made from corn starch – no plastic used.
  • Our new KindleFlamer pack – we decided to avoid a window altogether but to make the pack so that it can be opened to display the product to customers.

Kindling Box

 

The Challenge

Our boxes are cardboard, but to ensure the product is kept dry, particularly with our retailers often displaying them outside, we wrap the box in plastic to make it nearly waterproof. How do we get rid of the plastic?

What we have done so far

  • We have just recently designed a new box that has a lid that closes over the box to avoid water ingress, but the material is coated to provide an element of water resistance. We no longer use plastic. This will save approx. 3 tonne of plastic per annum.
  • We are going to have to have help from the retailers here, after all, it’s a combined effort. Retailers will need to ensure the boxes are stored and displayed in a dry area and away from driving rain.
  • Regrettably, customers can no longer see the product through the plastic top, but we hope people now have confidence in the Certainly Wood brand. Something had to give, and the window had to go along with the handle too!

Pallet Wrap

The Challenge

To ensure that a pallet of what can be up to 90 individual bags is sufficiently tightly wrapped to keep it dry during delivery, but also to ensure it reaches the customer safely and in the same condition as it leaves the yard!

What we have done so far

  • Reduced micron thickness of our pallet stretch wrap. Rolls originally weighed 2.35kg, they now weigh 1.55kg each.
  • With our annual usage, this is likely to save approx. 2 tonnes of plastic.

Bulk Bags

The Challenge

To ensure that the product arrives with you securely and safely and that the product is kept dry, including any extras on the top. We also want to be able to utilise the bulk bags more than once if possible, to minimise packaging.

What we have done so far?

  • Reduced the thickness of the bulk bags, but keeping the strength.
  • With our annual usage, this is saving 1.3 tonnes of plastic.
  • The bags are fully recyclable, but as you know, we encourage you to return these for re-use.

Wood Waste

The Challenge

What should we do with all the sawdust, off-cuts etc. that are waste from our processing operation? After all, it is not dried, so less easy to use when wet? When we started, we had mounds of sawdust building up in the field.

What we have done so far

  • We converted our kilns from running on oil to running on our wood waste (this goes back over 10 years). Every bit of our wood waste now goes into the boilers to provide heat for the kilns.