The need to deliver this substantial change has not diminished as the world’s attention has been diverted to tackling the coronavirus pandemic. Indeed, the need for action is more pressing than ever.

Thalia is helping to drive this change, but we want to do even more to make the substantial shift that is necessary.

Generating change

We are also unusual as a services company in generating renewable and low carbon energy. Thalia operates three Waste Treatment facilities, including material recovery across all sites and Energy from Waste (EfW) plants on two sites with another one in construction. Each EfW plant is geared to generate electricity with some 35MW+ exported to the National Grid, but could also provide heat for local heat networks, delivered to housing, industry or Public Buildings.

In addition to the materials recovered across all of our sites, we also operate two Anaerobic Digestion (AD) plants which generate renewable gas, used to create electricity, but which could also be used to create fuels or injected to the gas grid in the future. Combined, our waste treatment operations reduce carbon emissions by 173,000 tonnes per year.

Less is more

Over the next few years some very big decisions will need to be taken – decisions that will fundamentally shift the way humans interact with the natural environment, requiring major improvements in resource efficiency: doing more from less. This change starts now, from the inside out.

Different sectors of the economy have different ambitions in response to the climate emergency, ranging from those mirroring the government’s 2050 net zero target such as Highways England and the MoD, to 30% of our local authority customers committing to get there by 2030.

What they all have in common is a commitment to start that journey with immediate effect – and will rely on the service sector to help them reach their targets, and with the recent announcement of the introduction of new climate disclosure requirements and climate risk reporting for large organisations alongside issuing its first sovereign green bonds as part of its Covid-19 stimulus package, the impetus for making progress has never been clearer.

Future positive

In a world where the climate is changing due to the action of its inhabitants, Thalia is committed to a net-zero carbon future.

We will pledge to offer a low carbon option for every client solution and include carbon and climate change checkpoints in each and every decision, working with our partners and customers to turn their climate change ambitions into reality through innovative service provision.

We are confronting the challenges and supporting the many opportunities that a net-zero and resource-efficient future presents, and we look forward to working with our industry colleagues, decision makers, customer and neighbours to deliver a better future.