UTS Nederland is a national removal organisation with 25 offices in the Netherlands. It is the market leader in providing removal services for offices, businesses and institutions. For many years, government and semi-government organisations have been loyal UTS Nederland clients. The UTS Nederland companies are ISO 9001:2000, ISO14001, VCA, OEV, and PPV certified. In addition, UTS Nederland is partner to MVO Nederland (CSR Netherlands) and Erkend Leerbedrijf (certified training company). UTS is a professional organisation which is continually innovating, and has grown from a removal company to a provider of total logistics concepts. It’s no wonder the UTS service package is referred to as a ‘Unique Total Service’.

How can UTS Nederland make its policy based on Corporate Social Responsibility even more meaningful by giving the ‘Sustainability’ element an even more prominent role and encouraging its clients to do the same?

This project had 2 results: UTS now has a back office with a “CO2 neutral” operation and has reduced its CO2 emissions by 34% and achieved the expected financial savings. In addition, UTS now offers its current and potential clients the possibility to move in a “CO2 neutral” manner at an additional charge of 1% of the total moving price. In 2009, UTS published its second CO2 annual report for the various aspects which cause CO2 emissions. This project related to CO2 emissions in 2008. In 2008, UTS achieved a significant reduction in its CO2 emissions (versus the baseline) in the categories electricity, transport, waste and paper, a total of 41% versus the baseline year 2007.

Over the past decade, UTS has been a forerunner when it comes to using and reusing sustainable materials through the development of the plastic 'meter crate' (which has drastically reduced the use of cardboard boxes) and the implementation of the modality container (which has reduced the number of empty vehicles on transport routes). Just as well, the desire remained to reduce CO2 emissions further to, at a minimum, the level dictated by ‘best practices’. Because there was not enough information about the emissions of CO2 and too little expertise in the field of sustainability and CO2 reduction, the decision was made to take advantage of the expertise of CFP, a forerunner in the field of sustainability, combined with its knowledge of marketing. This marketing aspect was necessary to develop and launch the “CO2 neutral" moving concept in the market. CFP first recorded UTS’ total emissions in a “CO2 annual report”. All UTS offices were inventoried in the process. Next, savings measures were proposed, energy was ‘greened’, and the remainder of the CO2 emissions produced by the back office was compensated. After this, the “CO2 neutral” moving service could be developed. The service was introduced at the time the “CO2 annual report” and other results were presented to Ger Koopmans, the Chairman of the Permanent Parliamentary Committee for the Environment in the Netherlands.