Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability
Here's a little about some of the steps we're taking
We’re driving more positive impacts in communities, through long-term partnerships and taking additional actions to reduce carbon emissions, including working with customers around efficiency opportunities with water.
You can see results, under our commitments, on this page – and in published updates here.
We’ve worked to improve the data we have around carbon emissions, working with external experts – and we’ve been recognised with awards for supporting Net Zero targets, biodiversity in the UK and SDGs, along with raising awareness around water approaches that can cut energy use, too.
From increasing green canopies for communities through UK native tree-planting, to restoring peatland in Scotland and volunteering action for nature - we care about protecting and enhancing the environment and communities we work in. We engage with the community near our offices and each year raise money for local charities – see more on our business LinkedIn and below.
So far, we have:
- Partnered with Teenage Cancer Trust, to fund hundreds of hours of Youth Support team work in 2025 and 2026, to help young people facing cancer – and we’re a girls’ and ladies’ football league supporter, increasing skills of young people throughout 2025 and in 2026.
- The Carbon Footprint Standard for a CO2e Assessed Organisation, and worked with Carbon Footprint on action plans to continually improve and gain further carbon data.*
- Delivered large-scale water-saving projects, including in 2024 and engaged more than 1,600 locations - setting a blueprint for the approach in the industry in 2023 work. Engaged hospital staff - and workforces at manufacturing sites with science based targets.
- Helped Eco-Schools’ work, in the UK, in 2024 – and planted trees at NHS Trust sites – along with a Glasgow school and another in Cumbria, sharing water-saving advice with the schools too.
- Supported around 326 square metres of peatland restoration in 2024, in Scotland, helping biodiversity - after supporting peatland restoration in 2021, to prevent 400 tonnes of greenhouse gases being released in the UK, verified under the Peatland Code.
- Started a partnership with Trees for Cities in 2022, which runs to 2026 and has increased trees in the UK, along with funding 1 hectare of new native woodland, through the Woodland Trust and creating 2,023m2 of woodland, by backing The National Trust’s Plant a Tree fund.
- Made changes at work – increased Electric Vehicle and cycling take-up by employees, from 2023, after launching Electric Vehicle and Cycle to Work schemes, to encourage greener transport use - and providing everyone with reusable cups at our business. Our main office site has recycling points throughout our offices and we have regular communications on reducing environmental impacts, to name but a few.
- As part of our engagement with organisations to increase water efficiency and reduce impacts we can all have, we were Green World Ambassadors in 2024, with 100 extra trees being planted to mark this - after first becoming Green World Ambassadors in 2022 and again in 2023, with 200 trees planted.
To make water-saving actions and greener steps easier and support moves towards significant reductions in greenhouse gases, we’re also exploring emerging technology and tools to drive further progress.
This includes starting a national partnership with Zellar - an online sustainability tool which helps businesses, schools, universities, care homes, manufacturers and others, track their carbon and shows them steps to take to reduce carbon emissions, including an online water-saver site checker.
In 2023, Water Plus contributed towards Seawilding’s core operating costs to help their team develop seagrass and native oyster restoration projects for the UK. The charity works to restore the natural seabeds, which helps store carbon from the atmosphere, along with supporting biodiversity. Through helping with the charity’s core costs, Water Plus is helping enhance biodiversity in Loch Craignish, Argyll, in Scotland, and supports the monitoring and surveying that goes alongside the seagrass and oyster restoration work.
We’ve helped Eco-Schools’ work in the UK, supporting its educational programme to empower children and drive sustainable change by improving environmental awareness, increasing pupils’ skills and create carbon savings for schools. The support will help schools working towards their Green Flag accreditation, in 2024, along with educational resources and support.
In 2024, the Ocean Conservation Trust’s purpose-built seagrass cultivation lab in the UK has been supported, along with seagrass restoration - helping additional seedlings to grow to create 83 square metres of seagrass meadow. It’s part of the collaborative Blue Meadows Approach, by the charity, its biggest ground-breaking and most ambitious project to date in this area, to restore 50 hectares of seagrass meadows, near UK coastlines, during the next 10 years. Seagrass meadows combat climate change by absorbing and storing huge amounts of carbon, The Ocean Conservation Trust said.
We review our Environmental Policy each year and publish yearly updates under the Cleaner Climate Promise.
And of course, we’ll continue to help all our customers with ways to save water and save energy.
There’s more information about things to keep in mind with water for organisations on our:
*Carbon Footprint Standard Carbon Assessed and Carbon Neutral Plus for 2023-2024 financial year, for Scope 1 and Scope 2 and Scope 3 elements including employee commuting, work journey mileage, employee homeworking and water use, following carbon reduction actions. Supporting action to decarbonise, equivalent CO2e tonnes of emissions prevented through Carbon Footprint Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) projects. Carbon Neutral Plus refers to 25% additional CO2e tonnes of emissions prevented, above Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions assessed by Carbon Footprint, alongside increasing green canopies for communities by increasing native UK tree-planting. Detail on emissions are included in the published Water Plus Group Accounts.
Other projects we've supported
Additional trees have been planted in the UK - each year - since 2022, through supporting the NHS Forest.
In 2024, 30 NHS Forest trees were planted at a hospital trust in England, due to Water Plus sponsoring these saplings to help improve the site for nature, people and the climate. 25 trees were also sponsored in 2022 and planted at an ambulance trust’s station in 2023, with 25 more trees sponsored in 2023 and planted. The NHS Forest project aims to increase biodiversity and inspire and support healthcare sites in transforming their green space for health and wellbeing.
