Toshiba goes greener

Toshiba Medical Systems UK Ltd recently decided to aim for BSI PAS 2060*, the standard for a carbon neutral business.   

 Toshiba has partnered with ‘co2balance’, a carbon management company, to offset the residual carbon footprint of its UK operations.   

Mark Hitchman, Managing Director, Toshiba Medical Systems UK comments, “We will be selling to our customers carbon neutral products, where Toshiba in the UK has offset the carbon produced during manufacturing, shipping and customers’ average usage during the NHS-prescribed life for each product. 

“All this means is that when customers buy our equipment we will be able to provide them with an impact report showing exactly what impact their purchase will have on the environment.”

Established in 2003 and now a leading authority on project development, particularly in Africa, co2balance provides specialist professional services and products related to the carbon market.   The projects that the company’s work helps fund improve the quality of life and health benefits for families in East Africa by providing fuel-efficient stoves and fully maintained bore holes, which in turn provides clean disease-free water and reduces by seventy percent  smoke particulates from burning wood for fires.  The main fuel in these areas is wood, so that a more efficient stove leads to less CO₂ in the atmosphere and less deforestation. 

Carbon offsetting works by investing funds to absorb or prevent the emission of a tonnage of CO₂ equivalent to the client’s unavoidable carbon emissions.  This is done by investing in projects that save energy emissions (efficiency-based offsets), or that absorb atmospheric CO₂ (forestry-based offsets).

*PAS 2060 is a specification detailing how to demonstrate carbon neutrality produced and published by the British Standards Institution.

**There are two main accreditation standards for carbon offset projects in the voluntary market, the ‘Gold Standard’ and ‘Voluntary Carbon Standard’.  Co2balance is in the process of making its offsetting energy projects certificated by these standards.