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Date: 18-Nov-2024

News

UPSPS invited to sustainability awards

UPS Power Solutions is very proud to have been invited to submit an entry into this year’s Schneider Electric Sustainability Impact Awards.

Designed to recognise and celebrate the sustainability efforts of its global partner network, six partners across Australia and New Zealand were chosen to submit entries that outline their sustainability journeys and environmentally conscious actions.

Winners of the regional awards progress to the global section for further judging. The overall global winners will be announced at the Paris Innovation Summit in early 2025.

Authentically sustainable

UPSPS has been a long-standing advocate of sustainability and began its sustainability journey long ago when many of today’s phrases and descriptors were yet to be coined.

Sustainability to us means delivering social and economic benefits to stakeholders whilst operating our business in a way that doesn’t waste resources. It is something that is part of the company DNA.

By engaging our people, suppliers, customers and communities we ensure that our efforts are both authentic and meaningful, and through continual learning and development, our efforts and work in this space has gone from strength to strength.

Sustainable by design

When designing power quality solutions, the operating efficiency of the solution at the customer’s specified load is a crucial factor ensuring the most efficient use of energy and delivers scalability.

Designing in regular preventative maintenance results in a lower total cost of ownership and longer service life. Selecting products, such as those manufactured by Schneider Electric, that provide operating efficiency tables and environmental declarations provide customers transparency on the sustainability of the designed solution.

Socially minded

A key part of our company’s approach to maintaining good environmental conscience is to lead through good example and introduce policies and initiatives that stimulate our people to adopt a positive sustainability mindset while removing any hurdles and challenges that prevent positive action.

At the forefront of every decision we make is our commitment to a people-first approach to business. Whether an action concerns or involves staff, customers, suppliers, partners or the community; considering the people involved and how it will impact them has always been the very best guide.

Our sustainability journey

Assembling the submission to the Sustainability Impact awards enabled us to showcase many of the policies and actions that make up our commitment to operating as a sustainable business. This is best demonstrated by our strategies and actions within our three pillars of sustainability:

Environmental: UPSPS will prioritise energy efficiency to manage our energy costs and environmental impact.

Transitioning our vehicle fleet to hybrid technology - so far 50% of our fleet are hybrids
Introduce energy saving technology such as LED lighting, low energy heating and cooling throughout our three branches in Auckland, Wellington & Christchurch.
All three distribution centres are equipped with electric forklifts that don’t require gas or petrol to operate, and all shipments are consolidated to minimise freight and logistics emissions.
A strict policy of reuse and recycle is in place across the business and recyclable packaging is a major factor in asset, tool and product acquisition choices.
Through the Trees That Count initiative, UPSPS’s newly planted tree total has now reached 526, which will remove about 120 tonnes of carbon dioxide from our atmosphere over 50 years delivering a substantial offset to the company’s carbon footprint.

Social: Our vision is a world in which businesses work hand in hand with their staff and customers for the common good of the environment and the wider community.

Our Helping Hands Initiative empowers our people to be proactive and stimulate wellbeing within their own communities. We encourage our staff to identify and propose ways in which they can give a helping hand where they and their families live, work and play.
We are a Living Wage Accredited Employer, recognising that paying staff a living wage is a necessary and important step in the reduction of poverty in New Zealand.
We prioritise staff wellbeing including the provision of Employee Assistance Programme access and health insurance.
Our Trees That Count Planting locations are determined by our staff so that their communities can benefit from this activity long into the future with 13 national planters now supported.

Business Operations: UPSPS assumes stewardship of our products and solutions for the whole of their operating life and always configure solutions for maximum lifetime efficiency based on the unique requirements of the customer’s intended use.

Lead the UPS industry by providing quality equipment, superior customer service, technical innovation and on time delivery.
Deliver a Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) analysis which is uniquely developed for every system deployment.
Deploy remote monitoring and control where necessary to help reduce the long-term emissions and carbon costs through fewer service callouts.
Embrace the low-carbon circular economy by recycling and reusing materials where possible so resources are never abandoned to become waste.
Carefully select suppliers that have environmental and sustainability practices that align with our values - our key suppliers are all ISO 14001 certified.
Support the business ecosystem in New Zealand by choosing to work with New Zealand owned companies where possible.
Guide customers to make sustainable, data driven decisions by collecting and utilising power consumption and energy load data to arrive at the most efficient solution.
Choosing the very best quality batteries to maximise efficiency and minimise unnecessary degradation which leads replacement and waste.

Recognising the benchmark

As leaders in the global pursuit of sustainable and environmentally conscious business operations, Schneider Electric holds the awards to recognise and celebrate the commitment to sustainability throughout its partner network.

The principles of UPSPS’s long-held sustainability approach have been in place for many years but this recognition from a global leader has helped formalise our approach and strategise the continued evolution of our sustainability journey.

We are excited to be part of this process and look forward to continually evolving our approach that mitigates the negative impacts of business operations and promote positive change with a people-first focus.