How Businesses Can Reduce Carbon Footprint

By Natalie Stephenson-Wood | 24th January 2022

Did you know that your expense software can help your company reduce its carbon footprint?

In 2021, the UK government introduced a target of cutting emissions by 78% by 2035. Whilst the US stated a 65% reduction by 2030.

However, only 60% of US businesses have a sustainability strategy. The UK stands at 36%.
Webexpenses can help. Here are 3 ways your company can kickstart reducing carbon emissions:

1. Paperless solutions

On average, a tree takes 100 years to grow and can produce 17 reams of paper. As a result, this releases 10 lbs of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.

By removing paper-based processes, businesses can directly reduce their carbon footprint and help to reduce deforestation.

One of the easiest ways to reduce your businesses’ carbon footprint is to automate business processes.

For example, Webexpenses Expense Management system can help a business reduce its carbon footprint, including:

Submitting expense claims digitally

With a Mobile App, employees can manage and expense claims digitally for business travel.

For example, if an employee chooses to travel by train, they can download their ticket to their phone and send it directly to their expense app. Similarly, if staying overnight on a business trip, users can request that their hotel receipt is sent directly to their email - ready to be attached to their claim.

Digitally approving expense claims

Typically, without a digital process, finance teams would compile paper receipts attached to a pre-filled spreadsheet for each employee across the organisation. With automation, finance teams no longer need to chase paper receipts. They can log into their Expense Management system and view, approve or reject online.

Not only does this remove any paper requirements, but it also saves significant time and improves spend visibility.

2. Tracking your business travel CO2 emissions

Business travel emissions can be tracked and managed to understand how it can be more environmentally friendly.

Webexpenses provides a Carbon Tracking Footprint feature. This feature allows users to automatically calculate their CO2 emissions for each journey including car, rail, air, and more. Once emissions have been calculated, finance teams can export data and create a bespoke report to analyse how it is performing.

Reporting on Carbon Tracking can help businesses to rethink how employees travel for business. It can bring forward questions such as: Is there a more suitable mode of transport?

For example, planes and cars generate the most CO2 per passenger mile. With planes coming in at 82 pounds of CO2. It’s also estimated that taking a train instead of a flight could help reduce emissions by 84%.

With this in mind, businesses may consider shortening trips, limiting the number of employees travelling, or suggest an alternative method of transport e.g. opting for a train journey instead of a plane if travelling domestically.

3. Switching to a hybrid work structure

A 2021 study found that 97% of employees don’t want to return to the office full time. This means commuting patterns will change, resulting in fewer carbon emissions. It’s estimated that if office workers worked half of their week at home, emissions would reduce by 54 million tons per year.

A hybrid structure can help businesses' employees reduce their carbon emissions levels when commuting to work, whilst boosting employee satisfaction.

Ready to get started?

A great place to start is looking at how your current expense process is managed. By switching to an automated process, your business can directly reduce carbon emissions by diminishing paper and start the journey towards an effective sustainability strategy.