Based in Ayrshire, CCL Logistics & Technology has become the first UK logistics services group to be accredited by the Smart Freight Centre (SFC), a non-profit focused on reducing the emissions in global freight transportation. 

The accreditation is due to CCL’s transport management system, myCCL, which now autonomously calculates Scope 3 emissions associated with the transportation of goods. 

This includes all indirect emissions which occur in the value chain of the company, comprising about 70% of a businesses total carbon footprint on average according to Deloitte. 

According to Callum Bastock, CEO and founder of CCL, historically, the process of calculating emissions data has been challenging due to the variety of modes of transport, distance travelled, and consignment weights. 

“Now that myCCL automatically calculates the Scope 3 emissions for our customers it’s much easier for them to understand the environmental impact each shipment has on their overall footprint,” he said. 

“Over the last three years, we’ve invested heavily in our Transport Management System, so that our customers’ logistics data is all in one place, this allows us to then run complex calculations in the background to calculate transportation and distribution emissions across their supply chain.”

According to Bastock, sustainability is “front and centre” in their offering, saying the company will continue to invest in Greener Routes – their latest innovation feature – and its overall sustainability credentials. 

To bolster this strategy going forward, CCL has appointed John Murray as its first head of sustainability. Murray comes from a background in Nuclear Transport SOlutions, and brings environmental leadership experience from Morgan Sindall, Costain, and Balfour Beatty.

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“John is one of the top executives in his field. It’s great to get him on board to help guide our sustainability strategy going forward,” commented Bastock. 

In addition to its sustainability efforts, CCL recently completed a bolt-on acquisition, enhancing its sea freight expertise. The was also involved in Sir Tom Hunter’s Scale Up Scotland 2.0 program in 2022, as well as experiencing a 21% increase in revenue to £35.6 million in the year to 31st December 2022.