Evaluation of Denbies Wine's Environmental Management Strategies

The report evaluates Denbies Wine's environmental management strategies and progress towards reducing carbon emissions. It is found that the company has successfully implemented several initiatives to reduce its carbon footprint, leading to cost savings and resource deployment. Although some minor issues have posed challenges, it is concluded that the company's progress will enable it to overcome these hurdles and achieve its objectives.

ENVIRONMENTAL
AUDITING AND
MANAGAMENT SYSTEMS

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
OPTION A ..................................................................................................................................1
Strengths and weaknesses of the Programme.............................................................................1
Improvements and the case.........................................................................................................3
Certification or verification to any standards not currently adopted...........................................5
Auditing.......................................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Environmental Auditing is a concept of conducting an audit of the various activities
undertaken by an organization for the betterment of the environment in which it is working. It
essentially involves the evaluation of activities such as environmental compliance and
management, along with corrective actions. In other words, this system is similar to the one
applied in financial audits (Prajogo and et. al., 2016).
The present assignment is an attempt to review the environmental management of
Denbies Wine Estate, located in Surrey, England. It is the largest vineyard operating from a
single estate in the region of England. It is believed by the company that its long term success is
dependent on quality of natural environment. Hence, they have adopted the target to reduce their
Carbon Footprint, in addition to many other programme to help the environment. The report shall
further critically evaluate this program (Mohsin and Ektas, 2016). Further, the environment
management activities of Denbies wine Estate has been covered in the report along with its
strengths and weaknesses.
Illustration 1: Environmental Audit
Source: Accredium Inspection, 2016
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OPTION A
Strengths and weaknesses of the Programme
The management of the company is of the opinion that one of the biggest environmental
threats faced by the earth is that of the climate change. The proximate cause of such a drastic
change in the climate is due to increasing levels of carbon dioxide emissions, which has posed
challenges in many fields including that of supply chains. The management of the company has
identified its carbon footprint which is contributed by the emission of greenhouse gas produced
from power generation for running the store, refrigeration machines, and also from the network
of distribution such as flights, trains or trucks (Guenther, Endrikat and Guenther, 2016). Hence,
by understanding the same and in compliance with the Climate Change Act, 2010, the company
committed itself to become a Zero carbon business.
Denbies Wine is one of the largest single estate Vineyard, operating in England. It has
undertaken various measures to reduce its Carbon footprint. The brand has a vast infrastructural
base and that is one of the greatest strengths which is very much capable of making the
programme a big success. The 'F Plan' adopted by the company to regulate emissions has proved
to be the greatest strategy of the programme. The Plan is the push of the company for greater fuel
economy, fuller trucks and containers, fuller cages and pallets, and fewer miles (Arena, Ardolino
and Di Gregorio, 2016). For instance the company prefers to use double-deck trailers as against
the single deck trailer, thereby, increasing the carrying capacity by 80 % at a 20% greater cost.
Technological advancement generally in the market as well as within the organization has
enabled the management to work efficiently towards the goal. Also, in the year 2015 the
vineyard has invested in installation of Tow and Blow frost protector which is a wind fan and has
tremendously reduced the energy consumption, with fuel consumption of a lesser amount. It has
also proved to be covering greater coverage than rest of the frost fans in the market. The
building of the entity is using LED lights which tends to consume less electricity and even last
for a longer duration. Hence, all the energy efficient electrical equipments such as hand dryers
etc. have been installed to save electricity and further limit the carbon emission (Cook, van
Bommel and Turnhout, 2016). The program being implemented by business such as Helping the
environment is quite effective whose main focus area involves:
 Extension of woodland area by planting 1600 oak and hazel tress
 265 acres of wines are being maintained and expansion of Denbies over last 12 months
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 Investment in recovery of sprayers and it targets vine lead etc.
The 'Staff Green Bonus Scheme' has proved to be one of the major strengths of Denbies
as the whole workforce undertakes initiatives and also give suggestions to improve the
commitment to the green policies adopted by the vineyard. For instance, the drivers have
increased their personal efficiency by 8% in terms of miles they cover per gallon. They are
further encouraged to spread the word of environment friendliness by adopting the habit to use
public transportation and car sharing (Gorgemans and Murillo-Luna, 2016). Hence diesel
consumption has been reducing at a greater level, making the whole process a cost effective one.
Denbies Wine has adopted alternative vehicles for cutting down the emission of Carbon
dioxide, and has adopted bio-diesel, gas - powered and electric tractors for the Wine. Even for
the commercial vehicles it has experimented with the adoption of dual-fuel vehicles, which are
capable of switching between diesel and CNG. However, one of the issues being faced by the
company is lack of infrastructure in order to install gas stations at various centres. With the use
of electric vehicles it is facing problems in terms of performance, ranging and infrastructural
facilities. In furtherance to the same Denbies Wine is facing the major challenge of developing
sustainable vehicles in a cost-effective manner (Prajogo and et. al., 2016). A heavy investment is
diverted for development or procurement of technologies which are essential for reduction of
level of emission, and has been posing as a challenge for the management.
Improvements and the case
Denbies Wine has been working with experts from outside and colleagues to improve and
develop an effective and efficient environmental strategy. They have been working to formulate
credible strategies in order to meet the defined commitments of impacting the environment in a
positive manner (Phan and Baird, 2015). In order to achieve the larger plan of reducing the
Carbon footprint, the company had set following targets:
 To cut down carbon emission in 2006-07 by 50 %, from the store and use of various
vehicles.
 To cut down emissions in 2011-12 by 25%, with respect to per case of goods delivered.
The greenhouse gas emission has reduced to a great extent and it has further adopted the
mechanism of measuring and reporting carbon emissions in line with the Greenhouse Gas
Protocol. In connection to the same, the following work has been highlighted:
 Diminution of carbon emission has been recorded at the rate of 3.1%.
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 Refrigerant emission diminished by 26.5% as against the year 2006-07.
 Renewable electricity generated from solar and wind energy (Denbies Wines Estate.
2016).
 Increased initiatives for reduction in carbon footprint and costs.
It has also been observed that the emissions from various fields of Denbies Wine or the
emission from the supply chain of the company has reduced to a considerable level particularly,
due to the efficient workforce possessed by the company.
One significant achievement of the company is the successful implementation of a
functional website, which constitutes to be a huge step towards its bid to become environment
friendly. The website is very easy to use and has minimized the printed material. The visitors are
encouraged to access the site for all the instructions, which have been provided there. In order to
achieve its objective of reducing carbon footprint, the company has launched the “F Plan” for all
its operations within Britain (Lannelongue and et. al., 2015). It is a simple strategy to accelerate
the activities of the distribution channel and attain operational efficiency in every aspect. The
company with the introduction of this strategy has saved approximately 56 million litres of fuel,
enabled to take off 117 million miles of driving and has reduced around 150,000 tonnes of
carbon. It is based on four pillars which can be illustrated in the following manner: Fuller cages and pallets: This pillar strives to maximise the quantity of goods or
products being delivered in each of the journey. Fuller trailers and containers: This also aims to increase the goods being delivered in
each of the journey undertaken by a truck. In pursuance to the same the brand has
adopted double deck trailers for containing maximum goods within the truck. Fewer miles: This is attempt to reduce the number of miles the distribution channel has
to drive for delivering the products. The increased level of distribution through trains is
one of the initiatives (Gianni and Gotzamani, 2015).
 Fuel Economy: Through this pillar the company endeavours to increase the distance it
can drive for each litre of fuel consumed.
In addition, the company shall aim to optimize the level of networking which shall be
achieved by locating distribution centres at various places and further by possessing the right
services in accordance to the demands. Further, the rail network of distribution channel shall be
further strengthened, as it would also serve to be a two way service by distributing the goods to
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the stores and on the way back collecting the products from the suppliers. Though the plan has
been extended to other territories, a full fledged execution of this strategy is required to attain
better results throughout the Group of Denbies Wine.
Certification or verification to any standards not currently adopted
Denbies Wine has a well functional and a well aware management. It has certified or
verified against various standards in relation to environment management. It participates in the
national sprayer testing scheme. It is the first organization which adopted precision viticulture
(PV) in UK. Company has its own recycling programs, it offers locally produced food and drink
products. Denbies Wine has been addressing its environmental impacts due to various business
processes with the help of Environment Management System and is verified by the ISO 14001
standard (Mohsin and Ektas, 2016). However, it has been observed that this standard focuses on
the processes carried out at the site and places less emphasis on activities related to product
development as well as business planning.
Further, it does not even assist in ascertaining the activity to be undertaken after
identification of the environmental aspect of a product. Hence the company has adopted ISO
14006:2011, which assists the organization in establishing, maintaining, documenting and
continually enhancing the administration of eco-design as a component of the Environmental
management system. Further the company shall acquire ISO 14001:2015, which demonstrates
specifications of environmental management systems that enable an enhanced environmental
performance. Since, the company is keen to manage its responsibilities towards environment in
systematic manner, adoption of this standard shall prove to be very useful as it shall impart
Denbies Wine to build an environmental pillar of sustainability (Mohsin and Ektas, 2016).
The National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health (NEBOSH) provide
credentials of health, safety and Environmental Management. The managers or employees of the
company may acquire the NEBOSH Certificate. Further, the company can aim to prescribe to the
National Environmental Standards (NSEs) which offer technical standards, requirements or
methods for environment related issues. It provides a consistent approach and a firm decision-
making process to secure the people and also the environment, even by imposing strict standards.
Finally the QMS based ISO 9001 can be inculcated by Denbies Wine for efficiently
incorporating an approach which is particularly environment friendly for development of their
products and services, across the nation and throughout the world. It shall expose the company to
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an exclusive eco-design for the development and further reduction of negative impact on the
environment. The orientation of the management system shall be altered and be directed to being
environment friendly.
Auditing
Auditing plays an important role in achieving the targets in an effective manner. In the
company like Denbies wine estate, auditing plays an important role for achieving the target. An
audit is a systematic independent examination of the working of a process, typically by an
independent body. Denbies wine estate may conduct an environmental audit as this can reflect
various types of evaluation intended to identify environmental compliance and management
system implementation gaps along with related corrective action (Guenther, E., Endrikat and
Guenther, 2016). Environmental audit can help Denbies wine estate to identify the ways for
reducing the waste, improve overall efficiency and minimize liabilities risks.
Various needs of auditing are: Avoid liabilities: Conducting audit can reduce the liabilities of Denbies wine with
respect to environmental offences, as it would identify violations at an early stage and
give them a chance to address them in a timely fashion. Hence, avoiding government
prosecution. Save money: The company may be able to save money by proper evaluation of
environmental audits which can help to identify costly problems, such as inefficiencies
in the company operations. Save time: Policy made in this company are very effective and it takes long time to
establishing due to this reason auditing is most important it does not only save a time
but also give a various opportunity to Denbies wine estate to frame another policy in a
very significant manner (Arena, Ardolino and Di Gregorio, 2016). The company set
their goal on the basis of program framed and making a strong policy in these regard.
Without the evaluation of policy these is not possible to gaining the target. Analysis of data: These has to be done only by proper auditing. Many policies are
framed by the company for the future and different qualities and quantitative data are
figured in the policy so as to identify and analyze these data auditing is more important.
By doing these all the data which are in an assumption pattern must be come out in the
errors, because data cannot assume while making strong policy (Cook, van Bommel
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and Turnhout, 2016). Only appropriate figures are used by Denbies wine estate
company.
 Identify the risk: company face a measure risk while preparing a financial report. If the
data and policy are not appropriate then the financial report will not give a true result
and due to these the program which is made will not sustain for the long time in the
environment.
CONCLUSION
The present report has reviewed and evaluated the activities of Denbies Wine in relation
to environmental management. It can be inferred from the evaluation that the company has been
successfully implementing its management strategies for achievement of its target of reducing
the carbon emission, thereby reducing the carbon footprint in the environment. The company has
adopted several strategies and has taken several initiatives which have further narrowed down
the gap between the current position of the company and target. This initiative on the part of the
company has not only been benefiting the environment, but has also enabled the company to
reduce the costs and deployment of various resources. However, there are minor issues which
have posed challenges for the management of the company. In the end, it can be concluded that
the progress of the company is capable to overcome every such hurdle and achieve its objective.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Arena, U., Ardolino, F. and Di Gregorio, F., 2016. Technological, environmental and social
aspects of a recycling process of post-consumer absorbent hygiene products. Journal of
Cleaner Production. 127(1). pp. 289-301.
Cook, W., van Bommel, S. and Turnhout, E., 2016. Inside environmental auditing: effectiveness,
objectivity, and transparency. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability. 18(1).
pp.33-39.
Gianni, M. and Gotzamani, K., 2015. Management systems integration: lessons from an
abandonment case. Journal of Cleaner production. 86(1). pp. 265-276.
Gorgemans, S. and Murillo-Luna, J. L., 2016. The Adoption of Environmental Management
Systems by Shelters. In Tourism Management, Marketing, and Development. pp. 259-275.
Guenther, E., Endrikat, J. and Guenther, T.W., 2016. Environmental management control
systems: A conceptualization and a review of the empirical evidence. Journal of Cleaner
Production. 24(1).
Lannelongue, and et. al., 2015. Time compression diseconomies in environmental management:
The effect of assimilation on environmental performance. Journal of environmental
management. 147(1). pp. 203-212.
Mohsin, M. and Ektas, T., 2016. An introduction to environmental management systems: A case
study on preparation for an ISO14001 certificate at FLIR Systems.
Mohsin, M. and Ektas, T., 2016. An introduction to environmental management systems: A case
study on preparation for an ISO14001 certificate at FLIR Systems.
Phan, T.N. and Baird, K., 2015. The comprehensiveness of environmental management systems:
The influence of institutional pressures and the impact on environmental performance.
Journal of environmental management. 160(1). pp. 45-56.
Prajogo, D. and et. al., 2016. Environmental Audits and Third Party Certification of Management
Practices: Firms’ Motives, Audit Orientations, and Satisfaction with Certification.
International Journal of Auditing. 20(2). pp. 202-204.
Online
Denbies Wines Estate. 2016.[Online]. Available through:<http://www.denbies.co.uk/#>.
[Accessed on 12th August 2016].
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