Sustainability is a fundamental part of how we think about our business in terms of our responsibilities and the role we play in the wider packaging supply chain.
As a manufacturer and supplier of timber and corrugated packaging, we understand that our customers are increasingly looking for partners who can support their own environmental ambitions.
They want confidence that the materials they use are responsibly sourced, that packaging is designed with efficiency and longevity in mind, and that suppliers are taking meaningful steps to reduce their own impact.
That is why we are pleased to confirm that Nicklin has now been certified as a Carbon Neutral Business by Carbon Neutral Britain.
The certification follows a full carbon emissions assessment of our operations for the 2025 reporting year, covering the emissions produced directly and indirectly through our business activities. This included everything from energy use on site and company vehicles, to staff commuting, waste, water, business travel, inbound and outbound deliveries and the wider emissions associated with the energy and fuels we use.
The final assessment calculated Nicklin’s total carbon footprint for 2025 at 705.76 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. This now becomes our baseline year, giving us a clear, independently assessed starting point from which we can measure progress, identify the areas of greatest impact and continue to reduce our emissions over time.
The value of the process is not just in the certification itself but in the discipline of measuring properly, understanding where our emissions come from and using that information to make better decisions across the business.
The report identifies three key areas where future reductions can have the greatest impact: mains gas, energy use on site and inbound deliveries. These are practical, operational issues, and they are exactly the kinds of areas where a business like ours can look closely at how it works, how it invests and how it collaborates with suppliers and customers.
That might include further energy efficiency improvements, smarter monitoring of energy use, continued investment in cleaner technologies, reviewing heating and building performance, and working with suppliers to reduce the impact of transport and deliveries. Some changes will be immediate and straightforward while others will require longer-term planning, investment and partnership.
The carbon neutral certification has been achieved through a combination of measurement and offsetting. Through Carbon Neutral Britain’s Climate Fund, Nicklin has supported internationally certified carbon offsetting projects that help avoid or remove carbon emissions while also delivering wider social and environmental benefits.
These projects include renewable energy, solar lighting, wind power and methane capture initiatives, supporting cleaner energy generation while also contributing to benefits such as employment, education, infrastructure and access to affordable clean energy.
Offsetting is not a substitute for reducing emissions, and it is important to be clear about that. Our focus remains on reducing what we can within our own operations while using credible offsetting to address the emissions that remain today.
This approach already includes the use of sustainable timber and corrugated board, significant investment in a biomass plant, which helps us turn waste wood into useful energy, and the continued modernisation of our fleet and equipment. Each step is part of the same direction of travel: to reduce waste, use resources more efficiently and support a more circular approach to packaging.
For many customers, packaging is a vital but often complex part of their operation. It must be strong, reliable, cost-effective and fit for purpose but increasingly, it must also help support environmental goals. Our job is to bring those requirements together, offering practical packaging solutions that work for today while helping customers prepare for the demands of tomorrow.
Becoming carbon neutral is an important step for Nicklin, but it is not the end point. It gives us a platform to continue improving, to be transparent about our impact and to hold ourselves accountable as we work towards further reductions.
Our ambition is to be an environmental benchmark business in our sector and for our customers and contacts, this certification is a reassurance that Nicklin is taking its responsibilities seriously.
