“Caring for the Earth is not a hippie thing, it’s a survival thing.”
Sustainability.
At the forefront of everything we do, sustainability and our impact on the environment is a constant consideration. We take our responsibility seriously, and maintain hard driven practices, policies and objectives throughout our business to ensure our footprint is minimal and our contribution is positive.
Our sustainability strategy encompasses our operations, our employees, our media, our creativity, our client offerings and third party accredited assessments to offset our environmental impact locally, nationally and globally.
Echo are genuinely leading the way on operating sustainably within our industry, and our clients benefit from our expertise, constant research & development and prestigious internationally recognised accreditations.
ECOVADIS
EcoVadis is the world’s largest and most trusted provider of business sustainability ratings, creating a global network of more than 75,000 rated companies.
In 2021, Echo were awarded EcoVadis’s highest level of recognition - the Platinum Medal. This acknowledges the high quality and exceptional standards of Echo’s Sustainability and CSR processes and procedures and places Echo in the top 1% of all companies assessed.
This truly outstanding acknowledgement places Echo at the same level of sustainable operations as many of the world’s largest and most environmentally conscious organisations.
Our clients greatly benefit from this prestigious achievement knowing Echo have robust, transparent and powerful measures in place to protect the environment whilst delivering exceptional quality and creativity in our work.
EcoVadis also provides a powerful platform to continuously drive and develop our Corporate Social Responsibility policies, ensuring we remain at the forefront of our industry and leave no stone unturned in our pursuit of evermore sustainable operations and project delivery.
ISO
Echo hold accreditation under ISO9001 Quality Management, and ISO14001 Environmental Management.
These international accreditations acknowledge we acheived the highest of standards in our operations to both maximise our quality of service and product, and minimise the negative affect we incur on the environment. They ensure we comply with applicable laws, regulations, and other environmentally oriented requirements; and continually improve on all these areas.
ENERGY
Echo House operates entirely on solar power utilising the energy harnessed by 200 solar panels on our roof. We even create a surplus which is filtered back to the national grid.
Our state-of-the-art technology and machinery (from computers and lighting to printers and cutting tables) ensure our studio and factory operate at an optimum efficiency. Regular investment in new technology aligned with constant maintenance ensures we always run at the highest level of efficiency.
CARBON IMPACT
Echo employ third parties to assess and accredit our carbon impact. This in-depth and complex scientific assessment is continuously monitored to ensure we are fully and constantly informed of our businesses carbon impact.
This guarantees environmental transparency in every area of our business, as well as providing powerful, scientifically backed insight as to how we can continually drive down our carbon footprint and promote evermore sustainable operations and project delivery for our clients.
DESIGN
The Echo House Group design sustainably. This means that from project conception through to final delivery, sustainability is a constant primary objective on every decision.
From artworking to production technical drawing - every layer of design is optimised for sustainability.
Our in-house sustainable design agency, Slate Creative, has developed a powerful design process which guides any project, no matter how bespoke, through all sustainable considerations constantly balancing creativity, budget and timelines with environmental impact.
MEDIA
Integral to sustainability, the material we use throughout our production must be environmentally sustainable. Our core materials, used most regularly in our production, hold a vast array of sustainable accreditations - many being non-virgin, PVC-free, and fully recyclable.
We are also constantly researching and developing a wide variety of bespoke media - ensuring we can deliver highly original creative concepts sustainably and without compromising quality.
Using our industry expertise, Echo regularly collaborate with manufacturers to develop specific media and technology to plug gaps in the market offering - ensuring both quality and environmental sustainability are of primary focus.
INNOVATION
Echo are constantly innovating - this is what excites us most and keeps us genuinely at the cutting edge of our industry.
Whether developing more efficient software to drive our operations, R&D in to new media, investing in new production equipment or expanding into new areas of manufacture, our culture of innovation ensures we are always at the forefront of what we do; always driving for evermore sustainable, efficient and qualitative operations.
By way of example, we hold a close relationship with FujiFilm in Tokyo, developing their premium print technology in a real world setting - offering Echo and Fujifilm a power advantage in the development of cutting-edge, high quality and sustainable print technology.
CARBON QUOTING
Echo have invested heavily in the thorough and transparent scientific analysis of our media - allowing us to provide an accurate and incredibly powerful Carbon Emissions Factor for each material we use.
This means, when we provide a financial quote on any given job or project, we can offer a carbon quote - empowering our clients to instantly access the carbon impact of their work. Naturally, we provide more sustainable alternatives wherever possible, and these can be transparently assessed and balanced with both financial and environmental consideration in a moment.
Reporting is also a powerful tool we provide all our clients - allowing them to view their carbon impact, alongside the presentation of opportunities to reduce this in the future.
Echo are truly leading the way in this level of transparent, accurate and live analysis both during the decision making process and post project delivery - the only authentic way to achieve effective sustainability.
SUPPLY CHAIN
Echo House outsource less than 1% of our production. Producing in-house ensures a minimised environmental footprint from transport and logistics as well as guaranteeing quality and efficiency in all processes. This in turn reduces errors and subsequently waste of materials and energy.
Our material suppliers are market leaders who prioritise local production and sustainable media. We maintain a core network of trusted suppliers to provide consistent quality, reliability and healthy competition.
WASTE
First and foremost, we harness technology and regular in-house training to minimise waste. From in-house coding to nest files and streamline workflows to training teams on best practice machine operations & maintenance, we are constantly reducing our waste levels.
Secondly, we manage our waste powerfully on site. Echo House operates with 0% landfill and approximately 30% of our waste being recycled. The remainder is combusted for clean energy recovery.
We operate repurposing and recycling processes throughout our business be it in the studio, factory or off site when installing.
We also operate closed loop recycling schemes ensuring waste acrylic, for example, is pushed back to our media manufacturers to be recycled in to new acrylic.
“The climate crisis has already been solved. We already have all the facts and solutions. All we have to do is to wake up and change.”
— Greta Thunberg