A model for carbon reduction?

Allstar Business Solutions’ Ecopoint scheme, which was launched by the leading fuel card provider earlier this year to help its customers improve their green credentials, has already reached a major milestone after supporting the creation of over 1,000 acres of new UK woodland.

The fuel card expert teamed up with Forest Carbon, the UK’s leading developer of new carbon woodland projects, to launch the woodland creation for carbon capture  initiative just over six months ago.  Today, more than 20,000 Allstar customers are part of the scheme, with more and more businesses pledging their support every month.

Peter Bridgen, Allstar’s Managing Director, commented: “We launched our Ecopoint scheme to improve the service we provide our customers and add even more value to our proposition.  Carbon capturing is becoming increasingly important for our customer base and the fleet industry as a whole as a way to reduce the impact of fleet carbon emissions and help the environment.

“The fact that we already have over 20,000 customers using Ecopoint highlights the importance that UK businesses place on enhancing their green credentials.  In a short space of time, our customers have already helped plant over 670,000 trees, creating 1,077 acres of new UK woodland.  This equates to over 176,000 tonnes of carbon capturing underway since the scheme was launched, and also offers significant other social and environmental benefits to the UK. 

“This is a fantastic achievement and one which we, and our customers, should be extremely proud of.  However, we are not a company that rests on its laurels.  Our aim over the next 12 months is to make Ecopoint the biggest and most successful carbon capturing scheme in the UK and we are encouraging more customers to take a look at the benefits this scheme offers.”

The Allstar customer base that uses Ecopoint is extremely diverse, from local councils looking to act more sustainably, to engineering businesses running large vehicle fleets.  A number of national housebuilders, a host of manufacturers and more regionally based businesses like insurance brokers have also signed up to invest in the scheme that benefits the environment.

Graham Blew, Town Clerk at Swanscombe & Greenhithe Town Council, said: “Allstar’s Ecopoint scheme has been a real breath of fresh air for our town council. We have a fleet of vehicles that are deployed for maintaining council land; children’s play areas, our parks and most importantly our heritage park, which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

“It is imperative when carrying out these tasks that we know we’re building toward a more sustainable future. We have targets to become a greener council and Allstar is helping us achieve this. We want to ensure the recreational facilities we hold are protected and maintained for generations to come.”

To join Allstar’s Ecopoint scheme, customers pay a contribution per card per month for 100 percent carbon capture.  This, in turn, provides the means to plant woodlands that are quality assured by the UK Government’s Woodland Carbon Code, which certifies projects to ISO standards. 

The certification and planting status of each woodland is publicly verified via the Markit Environmental Registry, allowing customers to keep track of their progress. Customers that join can request to receive an annual e-Certificate which shows how many trees have been planted on their behalf, along with the anticipated carbon capture.

Plans are also in motion to start creating forests outside of the UK. From the 1stJanuary 2016, subscribers to the scheme will be contributing to woodland - 50 percent in the UK and 50 percent overseas.

Stephen Prior, Director at Forest Carbon, commented on the success of the Allstar Ecopoint scheme: “The Ecopoint project has been more successful than I could have ever imagined. Considering the idea was born in January this year, to have 176,396 tonnes of carbon capture underway already is a significant achievement. This is on course to be by far our biggest success of our Forest Carbon accounts, however there is still much work to be done, so we look forward to developing this scheme even further with Allstar moving forward.”