ChargeBox supplies phone charging systems for public spaces where customers can charge their phones for free at venues, airports, retailers and more. Designed and manufactured in Britain, they have a global reach with over 4,000 charging points in 37 countries and have delivered more than 52.5 million out-of-home device charges.

Their Pledge:

To reduce 50% of their baseline carbon emissions by 2025 and reach net zero by 2030.

 Communications Technology Impact Opportunity

From a report published in the Journal of Cleaner Production, the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Industry is predicted to contribute more than 14% of total global GHGs emissions by 2040. This accounts for more than half of the current relative contribution of the whole transportation sector.

CharageBox’s Net Zero Journey

ChargeBox selected Giraffe Innovation to complete a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) of their ChargeBox CB3 Fast Charge product, to gain a better understanding of the carbon emissions produced from raw materials through to manufacturing the finished product. Giraffe Innovation calculated the carbon footprint for each of the 45 main components including manufacturing of parts.

Their Net Zero strategy includes four key areas:

Supply Chain

ChargeBox has strategically sourced nearly 100% of their components and manufacturers locally in the UK and developed strong relationships with a small number of suppliers. They will work collaboratively with these businesses to help them understand and reduce their carbon footprint, with a focus on creating green initiatives that help the wider UK business community reduce their environmental impact.

Product Lifecycle

ChargeBox is working closely with their supply chain to redesign key product components to make them more durable and easier to repair. Additionally, they will redesign their products so that components can be salvaged and re-used in new products. This design approach will keep materials in use for as long as possible and significantly reduce the embodied carbon in each unit. It will also reduce the number of site visits needed to service and repair their units.

Transport

Transport is the third biggest emitter and a key part of ChargeBox’s service due to the frequency of site visits for installation, servicing and removal. While some emissions are from rented vehicles, the rest stem from their clients’ logistics companies. ChargeBox will encourage these logistics companies to switch to EVs and is implementing a travel policy to encourage public transport use when attending sites if there is no equipment delivery or removal. ChargeBox has also introduced a cycle to work scheme.

Energy

After manufacturing, the highest carbon impact for ChargeBox is generated from the energy needed to power their charging stations. The charging stations have been designed to be energy efficient, but rely on clients to provide the power source. ChargeBox will engage with clients and offer incentives to encourage a switch to renewable energy providers. 

“We started with no knowledge of this agenda and the Better Futures+ programme has provided us with the opportunity to learn a broad perspective of what sustainability means for our business. We now need to incorporate it into all aspects of our wider business strategy. We have analysed the complete lifecycle emissions of our products from sourcing materials and manufacturing, to product use and end-of-life solutions. While much of this is not currently under our direct control, we believe we can work with our suppliers, clients and other stakeholders to strongly influence the outcomes. We also believe our UK-supply chain is considerably better suited to achieving this than one with high dependence upon Far East suppliers”.
Ian Hobson
Managing Director

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