Tandy Group crushes carbon footprint with sustainability upgrade

Small to medium enterprises (SMEs) are critical to Australia’s economy. Like every other part of the economy these businesses are subject to the same price increases we’ve all experienced in recent times.

As the cost of energy and other inputs continues to rise, it’s important for SMEs to explore options to help reduce cost burdens. One avenue is by accessing the benefits of renewable energy, battery storage and energy efficient equipment.

ANZ and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) have worked together for the past five years to provide discounted loans to businesses seeking to transition to more sustainable operations. The co-finance program has been extended to $200 million to support more businesses in their efforts to achieve net-zero emissions.

SMEs that install renewable energy and adopt the latest energy efficient innovations can improve their bottom line while reducing their emissions.

I recently visited one of our customers in Mackay – Tandy Group – a dynamic business involved in concrete production, quarries, agricultural lime, cattle genetics and potable water production. The group has invested in sustainable equipment to reduce their carbon footprint while still delivering services to their customers.

“Sustainability can generate a profit by doing the right things with the environment and with your people.” Tandy Group’s Chief Executive Officer Mitchell Flor said. “Sustainability also drives innovation, and innovation is one of the keys to sustainability.”

The group has benefited from a loan under ANZ’s program with the CEFC, enabling them to upgrade equipment at their aggregate concrete crushing site to both improve productivity and reduce fuel consumption from 2.5 litres to 0.7 litres per tonne.

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The Energy Efficiency Council has estimated that improving energy efficiency has the potential to save households and businesses up to $7.7 billion each year on their energy bills.

ANZ and CEFC loans enable customers to use discounted clean energy finance to reduce their costs at the same time as meeting community expectations around improving sustainability.

Since the partnership’s inception, around $260 million has been provided to customers to support the purchase of assets to help reduce emissions.