Here we meet Tom Sherifi, Sustainability Lead at Volta Trucks…
What does sustainability mean to you?
Everything! It’s my calling. It is the reason I get up in the morning – to help make the world a better place for the next generation. I feel extremely lucky that at Volta Trucks I can explore my passion.
Some companies are only just starting to address the issue of sustainability. Why is it worth tackling it now?
We are so close to running out of time to stop climate change and its associated damage from impacting all our lives. However, we can limit some of these impacts if we rapidly change course now. There are positives amongst the doom and gloom, when as a species we collectively turn towards creating solutions, we usually succeed.
What action that you have taken has had the most impact during your time at Volta Trucks?
Writing and implementing ISO14001 Environmental management systems. We can’t reduce what we don’t measure, and this standard allows us to track all aspects of our operations, rank our impacts and then mitigate these through improvement programmes. Once this is complete, we will turn towards achieving ISO50001 which focuses just on energy management.
Other notable achievements include setting up end of life partnerships for recycling our vehicles to over 95 percent, including second life of the battery.
How do you stay up to date on the latest trends in sustainability?
Through scientific research and actively engaging with every form of information source out there. From using my network of sustainability professionals and colleagues at Volta Trucks, to following certain scientific publications such as nature, physics, chemistry and materials sciences – plus current news channels.
Is there another company whose work in sustainability you admire?
The fashion company, Patagonia, is really setting itself apart from the competition. In a sector that traditionally has a poor environmental or sustainability record, they hold themselves accountable for everything they do and that’s something Volta Trucks believes in.
Find out more about how Volta Trucks are leading the way in zero tailpipe emissions and reducing the effects of global warming.