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Sustainable business

Macfarlanes is fully committed to reducing the negative environmental impact of our business operations and the continual improvement in our environmental performance.

We recognise that Macfarlanes’ environmental performance is the responsibility of everyone at the firm.

This is in addition to our compliance with legislation, regulations and codes of practice on environmental matters that are relevant to Macfarlanes.

Our Environmental Sub-Committee, made up of individuals from across the firm, leads the firm’s sustainable business agenda.

Environmental policy

In June 2020 we adopted an ambitious new environmental policy.

The policy includes commitments covering our carbon footprint; emissions; waste; recycling; sustainable procurement of goods and services; office greenery and support for the legal sustainability community. These commitments represent the important contribution we can make as a firm to sustainability and the environment.

We are developing a set of measurable targets to track our progress towards each of our policy commitments over time.

Strategic priorities

We currently have three strategic priorities.

  1. Going plastic free: cutting out as much single use plastic (and other materials) as possible.
  2. Carbon reporting: collecting and publishing data on our carbon footprint.
  3. Food waste and recycling: improving food waste processing and general recycling throughout the firm.

Legal Sustainability Alliance

Macfarlanes is an increasingly active member of the Legal Sustainability Alliance (LSA). The LSA is an inclusive alliance of law firms committed to improving the sustainability of their operations and working together to improve sustainability within the legal sector as a whole. Since joining in 2018, we have been an active member of the community, attending and organising events and working with the LSA team on new actions and initiatives. We plan to continue to work closely with the LSA as we develop our sustainable business practices at Macfarlanes.

Legal Renewables Initiative

Macfarlanes is proud to have signed up as an early adopter of the LSA-led Legal Renewables Initiative and made a public pledge to continue sourcing 100% renewable energy. Macfarlanes has been procuring energy on a 100% renewable tariff for a number of years. We are committed to continuing to procure renewable energy from sustainable providers and to encouraging staff and contacts to do the same.

Operational sustainability

Alongside our strategic priorities, we continue to build on many aspects of our operational sustainability, such as:

  • using 100% FSC and PEFC certified paper;
  • defaulting to double-sided printing to reduce paper use;
  • ensuring none of our general waste is sent to landfill; and
  • procuring all of our energy from renewable sources.
Sustainable business