A word from Paul…
It gives me enormous pleasure and also pride, as I provide the introduction to our latest update on our sustainability programme, contained within The Big Green Plan.
It’s hard to believe that we are now into our final year of this initial 5 year plan, where does the time go?
We continue to have focus on three core areas, namely: Responsible Production and Consumption, Clean Water and Sanitation, and Quality Education, and you can review our progress on these in this document. We have a firm determination that we will not engage in any form of greenwashing, which is why we share transparent updates in The Big Green Plan.
We remain focused on contributing to a more sustainable future, which is why I am delighted to announce that we are already working on our next 5 year plan, with revised focus and new targets and initiatives. This will allow us to continue to drive forward with our sustainability programme, to assess our position to 2030 and beyond, and keep flying the flag for our global sustainability initiative ‘Do Good. Every Day.’
Our purpose statement is “Making better products for a sustainable future to promote the joy of floristry for generations to come” and with this, we are all so excited about the launch of OASIS® Renewal™ Floral Foam. Made with plant based, renewable materials, it contains no dyes or colourants, and achieves a 56% lower carbon footprint vs traditional floral foam.
We have been developing this for years, and we can’t wait to have this out in the market very soon. We are Reinventing Floral Foam!
We hope you enjoy reading what we have achieved so far. We continue to learn, we continue to develop and we will continue to make impactful changes.
As we review the progress and impact of our programme and this plan, what impresses me the most and does fill me with pride, is the fact we had the foresight, desire and passion to launch this back in 2020. This plan has driven many fantastic initiatives, it has meant that we talk about sustainability in all of our plans, and it keeps sustainability front and centre in our business. It has allowed us to track our progress, feel good about our successes, but also allows us to assess our failings and what attention is needed to do better in the future.
Paul Southwick Managing Director Smithers-Oasis UK Ltd
Our Sustainability Story So Far...
As a company, Smithers-Oasis has always been committed to protecting the earth we live on and the people and communities we serve globally. Sustainability has been the focus of all our latest innovations, and we’re making lots of changes to the way we run our UK business. Read on to see our journey so far.
In 2018, we launched OASIS® Bio Floral Foam Maxlife, which degrades 91% in 3 years in an anaerobic environment.
In April 2019, we first put together our range of products for Eco-Floristry. Creating this category made it easier for eco-conscious customers to find the products they were looking for all in one place. The range is growing all the time!
In June 2019, we began monthly sustainability meetings, and every employee had the opportunity to take part and share their ideas. These meetings led us to lots of research and learning, and we began formulating plans to take the UK company forward on a sustainability journey.
In December 2019, we had our first team member, Steph Gillespie from our Marketing Department, complete the University of Cambridge course in Business Sustainability Management, bringing us more knowledge than ever before.
In 2020, we finalised our 2025 goals and put everything together to form The Big Green Plan, which you’re reading now!
From winter 2020 and throughout 2021, we converted our NAYLORBASE® Floral Bases to a new 100% recycled and recyclable plastic, in a stylish matt black colour.
In March 2021 our Area Sales Manager René van der Voort completed the Cambridge course on Business Sustainability Management, and in May 2021 we trained our first ever external Sustainability Champion, Julie Collins, Director at the British Academy of Floral Art.
In May 2021 we launched FibreFloral™ Design Media from Smithers-Oasis, a natural product based on volcanic basalt rock with a bio-based binder that is derived from rapidly renewable materials. A range of shapes are now available with compostable cardboard bases.
In April 2022 we launched our first compostable design media, OASIS® TerraBrick™ Floral Media, certified OK compost HOME and OK compost INDUSTRIAL.
In April 2022, we appointed Sustainability Champions to each area of the business, to help run projects and spread knowledge amongst the team.
In August 2022, we welcomed a new FloraLife Representative, Claire Foster, to our team. Claire is visiting florists around the UK helping them with flower care and handling tips, including how to save water.
In July 2022, we launched a range of OASIS® Biolit shapes which are made from recycled card and are recyclable and compostable. They can be used with a choice of media to create biodegradable floral designs.
In September 2022, we held sustainability training sessions for our entire team, which included getting hands-on with FibreFloral™ Design Media.
In October 2022, delegates at the Good Florist Guide event got to try out our latest innovations; FibreFloral™ Design Media and OASIS® TerraBrick™ Floral Media.
In October 2022, we attended British Florist Association event FleurEx, where we were thrilled to team up with our external sustainability champion and BFA Sustainability Officer Julie Collins, for a talk on eco-floristry.
In January 2023, we launched our FloraLife 3 step care system, which helps florists save on water and flower waste. The products featured have sustainability credentials including carbon neutral FloraLife® Express Ultra 200, and Flower Food in FSC certified, recyclable paper sachets.
In April, July and October 2023, we got involved in some fantastic events with our wholesalers Flower Connection Leeds, Flowervision Birmingham and Flowervision Bristol, where we could showcase our eco floristry products for florists to try firsthand.
In March 2023, we attended the ‘Flower-powered Partnerships’ event hosted by Fairtrade at the Garden Museum in London, where we learned about the lives of Fairtrade flower farm workers and gave a talk on sustainable options for florist sundries.
In September 2023, we showcased our new design choices at the Interflora World Cup in Manchester. Competitors from around the world used OASIS® Bio Floral Foam Maxlife in one of their design challenges too!
October 2023, also saw us attend British Florist Association event Floricon where we created a ‘play station’ for OASIS® TerraBrick™ Floral Media so florists and students could come and try the product for themselves.
In October 2023, florist Katherine Birtles became the second of our industry sustainability champions after completing the University of Cambridge Business Sustainability Management Course with flying colours.
In February 2024, we began our ‘We Are Growing Greener’ campaign, highlighting our advances in products for eco floristry.
In April 2024, we attended the Floristry Industry Day at ARU Writtle College and gave a talk on sustainability within our product ranges.
In May 2024, we brought our team of florist ambassadors on board and included a sustainability induction in their welcome day training.
In June 2024, we supported the first ever National Florist Day and helped put together a sustainability information resource for florists.
In the summer of 2024, we joined each of the British Florist Association Hub events around the UK, sharing our ‘We Are Growing Greener’ message.
In September 2024, we attended an event at Coventry Cathedral where the Sustainable Flowers Research Project launched their guidance on plastics, packaging and waste in Floriculture.
BFA FleurEx in October 2024, was another opportunity to talk about sustainability, and we helped create a display of funeral work using eco techniques. Taking home Sundries Supplier of the Year was a fantastic confirmation of the progress we have made!
In October and November, we hosted live webinars for colleges, with Q&A sessions covering topics in the realm of sustainability.
In December, we had another fantastic florist, Heather Eales of Church Park Flowers, Bideford, complete the Business Sustainability Management course.
All our cardboard boxes are FSC Certified and are provided by a local supplier.
Our florist orders are now packaged with plastic-free packaging, which helps products arrive safely and is also easy for the recipient to recycle in paper waste.
Some of the boxes we use to pack our finished products have been changed to crash lock cartons. This has eliminated the need to use sticking tape, saving resources for us and waste for the end user.
We manufacture all our OASIS® Floral Foam here in the UK, at our factory in Washington, Tyne & Wear, minimising the carbon footprint of transporting to our UK customers.
We have big plans for the future, but we’re also proud of what we’ve already achieved - here are some of the sustainability successes we are celebrating!
We segregate our waste into 6 different materials streams to allow us to recycle more and waste less. We use green energy to power our head office and factories.
We’re encouraging our team members to be ‘Green Heroes’ and give us their best sustainability ideas, with the chance to win a voucher and plant a tree on site!
Within our UK team we have a Sustainability Specialist, as well as Sustainability Champions, and Smithers-Oasis has a Global Sustainability Manager too.
Our 2025 Goals
We set our 22 Big Green Plan goals in line with three key areas of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. These SDGs highlight 17 areas that require addressing globally, in order to ensure a sustainable future for people and the planet.
In the following pages, you’ll see our targets for the end of 2025, followed by an update on the progress of each goal for the 2024 calendar year.
Ensuring sustainable production through efficient use of natural resources and responsible consumption that prevents as much waste as possible.
Ensuring availability of clean water for all by managing water use and ensuring correct sanitation to prevent pollution.
Ensuring quality education and providing opportunities for lifelong learning for all.
Our Consumption and Production Goals
We’ll reduce the amount of virgin plastic used in the products we manufacture
Through alternative packaging solutions, we’ll cut the plastic shrink wrap used on our manufactured products
We’ll work with our customers and suppliers to develop 10 closed loop schemes
Information on handling and disposal will be available for all of our products
All plastic components for manufactured products will be recyclable
By improving our manufacturing processes, we’ll reduce the amount of OASIS® Floral Foam that ends as scrap
We’ll aim to ensure no waste from our four UK sites ends in landfill
We’ll find measurable ways to improve the carbon footprint of our UK business
We’ll assess the sustainability of the top 30 suppliers we use for our manufacturing
We’ll work with suppliers to minimise the carbon footprint of our goods-in freight
We will aim to have a range of at least 50 products available to specifically help florists design in a more ecoconscious way
All products will have at least one biodegradable, recyclable, or reusable element.
Consumption and Production 2024 Results
We’ve hit our 2025 target as we are now using 81% fewer pieces of virgin plastic in our manufacturing than when we started in 2020. We are now looking for ways to remove virgin plastic completely from our product range.
In 2024 we overhauled our retail packed range of products, eliminating shrink wrap completely and using recyclable FSC card sleeves instead. This will save over 1200kg of wrap annually. For any items that still require wrapping, we use film made from 30% recycled content.
We currently have 7 circular systems in place - some are internal, and some are with our suppliers who deliver to us in reusable containers. We would still love to implement some external circular systems with our customers.
There are some key components for which we haven’t yet found a recyclable alternative due to the material properties needed, but 72% of our manufactured lines do have recyclable plastic parts, and 45% have fully recyclable plastic parts.
We have managed to reduce waste going to landfill by 51% since 2020, but there’s still more to do on this. We have a solution which will allow our foam waste to be reused, so we are still confident we can ultimately reach zero waste to landfill.
Having hit this target in year one, we continue to survey every new supplier as part of the onboarding process. We’ve made improvements to our survey too, to learn more about suppliers’ sustainability credentials.
As well as providing disposal instructions on our websites for all products, we’ve also introduced disposal information to our retail packaging, to help end consumers recycle as much as possible.
In 2024 we managed to exceed our target, with a 38% reduction in scrap compared to our start figure in 2020. This has come from savings right at the beginning of the production process, as well as a project to recover scrap pieces that can then be used to make other shapes.
Consolidating our two warehouse sites into one in 2024 has saved on energy use as well as hundreds of miles worth of fuel annually. A lighting rewire has allowed fantastic electricity savings too, as we’re no longer lighting areas of our factory when they’re not in use.
Keeping key lines in stock for our customers is a top priority for our business, and as yet we’ve only been able to make limited changes to our supply chain. It’s also difficult to track the footprint of shipments, so we need to prioritise working with hauliers who can provide us with this information.
We are always improving and adding to our ecofloristry range. It currently features over 200 lines including natural design media options, FSC packaging and compostable containers.
With changes both to raw materials and packaging, we have more products than ever with at least one sustainable attribute However, this goal is a challenging one for certain product categories, so there’s still work to do if we are to hit our target.
Consumption and Production Case Study
Safe packaging is key to ensuring florists receive the high-quality products they order from us in perfect condition. To protect fragile items such as glass and ceramics, we had been using plastic bubble wrap, and plastic air pouches were used to fill voids to prevent movement during transport.
Due to customer feedback, and as part of our own carbon saving goal, in 2024 our Pick Pack Supervisor Michael had a mission – to eliminate all plastic packaging from florist orders.
Following months of research and testing, we were able to make the switch in July 2024. Fragile items are now wrapped in recyclable FSC hive paper, and we have recyclable FSC void fill paper too. To seal boxes, we use a natural paper tape with solvent-free gum adhesive.
The result? We’ve seen no extra damages, our customers are happy, and we’ve made huge carbon savings. In one year, we will save the CO2e equivalent of over 35,000 miles of driving an average passenger vehicle – or charging over 1.7 million smartphones!
Our Water and Education Goals
We’ll cut water usage by half at our four UK sites
Everyone in our UK team will have actionable Personal Development Plans, which will include sustainability objectives
We’ll hold or participate in an educational event for sustainability in the floral industry every 6 months
We’ll develop a water-saving protocol and aim to help at least 500 florists implement it in their businesses
We’ll train ten internal and ten external ‘champions’ who can help work on sustainability in our business and within the floral industry
All our key suppliers will be briefed on our company plan and goals and updated annually
We want to collaborate with at least 20 external organisations on sustainability initiatives
The Big Green Plan will be updated to show how we’re tracking on each of our goals
YEARLY
Every UK employee will receive updated sustainability information every quarter, and it will be part of the induction for every new employee
We want to dedicate 10,000 hours to improve knowledge and understanding within our team
Water and Education 2024 Results
We used well below 50% of our start figure in 2024, but due to changes in our sites and their usage, and with some employees working some of their time at home, it’s now tricky to get a true like-for-like comparison.
In 2024 we visited over 160 florists and met many more at events and open days. Our mission is to help them understand how to achieve the best flower life while also saving time, money and water.
All our team members have regular reviews with their manager, but we are working to create more formal development plans in 2025. Some staff have 90-day objectives each quarter, and where possible, these include a sustainability goal.
Suppliers are sent a copy of The Big Green Plan, and they must sign to acknowledge receipt as part of their onboarding before they can work with us.
Our goal is two per year, but we had many more fantastic opportunities to spread the word on sustainability in 2024, from regional BFA Hubs, to wholesaler open days, to working with colleges through our new college support programme.
YEARLY
Sustainability updates to our full team were lacking in some quarters, so this is something we need to improve. We continue to provide a sustainability induction for new team members, and further training on sustainability is available too.
In 2024 we had another external industry member complete the Business Sustainability Management course, and we rely on all our champions for feedback, information and ideas.
We had some great opportunities to connect to other industry members in 2024, and we hope this will lead to a number of new partnerships – two more will get us to our goal in 2025
We continue to track our Big Green Plan goals quarterly, with an update published each year –welcome to our fifth edition!
With so many great events in 2024, it’s difficult to put a number on the many hours we have spent talking on the topic of sustainability! Internally, we added roughly another 20 hours through inductions, ambassador onboarding and educational events.
Education Case Study
We wanted to do more to support the next generation of florists, including helping to educate on sustainability within the industry. For this reason, in 2024 we rolled out a new College Support Programme. Opened initially to 30 colleges around the UK, we support in several ways:
1. Product Resource
Colleges are provided with free of charge product to support their students’ practical learning, including OASIS® Floral Foam, FloraLife, and a sample selection of our key ecofloristry lines.
2. Educational Videos
We recorded a suite of 8 educational videos, including content specifically on sustainability, which tutors can use with their students.
3. Live Webinars
Our team has so far carried out three live webinars direct to classrooms from our head office, covering sustainability topics and allowing interactive Q&As with students.
If you’d like to learn more about the Programme, get in touch using the details on the next page.
We can all achieve so much more when we work together. Now you have seen our plans we hope you will join us on our sustainability journey! Here are some ways you can get involved to help create a more sustainable floral industry…
• Keen to do your bit? Sourcing products from our Eco-Floristry Range is a step in the right direction
• Got a green brainwave? If you can see ways we can do things in a more sustainable way, send us your ideas by email or if you’re a team member, submit an improvement suggestion.
• Want to become a whizz on sustainability? We are looking for volunteers to take sustainability training!
• Have you had your own sustainability successes? Why not share them with us? We’d love to see your stories and share them on our social media and websites
• Want to help us grow? You can volunteer to be a product tester or let us know that you want to be part of our circular economy plans
Get in touch today: contactuk@oasisfloral.co.uk
