We’re absolutely delighted to announce that Mayne Vets has been awarded the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) Sustainability Award as part of their prestigious Practice Standards Scheme achieving an ‘Outstanding’ commendation. This recognition celebrates our ongoing commitment to environmental responsibility, ethical practice, and reducing our impact on the planet, whilst still delivering exceptional care for your pets.
🏆 What the Award Means
The RCVS Sustainability Award is given to veterinary practices that demonstrate environmental sustainability across a range of areas such as – measuring and reducing waste, consolidating medication orders and calculating their carbon footprint alongside reduction targets. Being recognised in this way shows that sustainability is not just a buzzword for us; it is a core part of how we operate every day.
The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) governs veterinary surgeons, veterinary nurses and veterinary practices. The RCVS uphold standards of clinical care and practice, having a voluntary scheme (PSS) for veterinary practices to participate and subscribe to. The standardisation ensures we all work to a high level, being independently reviewed every four years.
It is hard to believe this is not a specific requirement for all veterinary practices (always look out for this logo when registering with a veterinary clinic), we hope that as upcoming change in the veterinary profession forces a legislative change to make this compulsory in the future. Being part of the scheme is certainly a badge to wear with pride, it gives the team a huge sense of achievement and value to the practice we work in.
Mayne Vets have always been a forward thinking, independent practice with a strong ethos for high standards of personalised patient and client care. Pet owners can rest assured that our principles meet and exceed the requirements that a veterinary practice must adhere to.
The Day of the Inspection
On the day of the inspection we were so thankful to show the inspector around and had open conversations about what we’ve achieved, what we’ve struggled with, where she learnt from us, but also in areas we could explore and learn from in the future. We thought we’d share the feedback given to us from the inspector on the day:
“Environmental responsibility is embedded across all aspects of practice, patient care, and client education, with ideas shared within the team and the wider profession to drive both minor and major sustainability innovations. During the assessment, the Green Team provided exceptional evidence of this commitment, show casing initiatives such as comprehensive recycling of materials and consumables, staff swap shops, carbon footprint measurement and reduction, and investment in technologies to capture waste anaesthetic gases. Equally notable was the teams focus on responsible antimicrobial and parasiticide use, supported by client education. These efforts-among many others – reflect a profound dedication to advancing environmental stewardship within the profession. Over all there were too many positives to detail, but this team should be immensely proud of its outstanding contribution to environmental sustainability within the veterinary profession”
🌱 What We’ve Done
To earn this award, our team has implemented meaningful changes across the practice for the last four years. We have been measuring our resource use, including gas, water, and electric amongst other things since 2018 and we aim to decrease this further in the future, in order to decrease the amount of carbon the practice produces. We calculate our carbon footprint yearly and even offset the carbon the practice does use, in order to try and make us a carbon zero business.
In 2025 we:
- Installed SageTech canisters in the clinic, this technology allows for us to capture and repurpose anaesthetic gases instead of them being released into the atmosphere and damaging the Earth’s ozone layer.
- 20 miles have been saved from our staff travel scheme, as a result of 1410.80 miles cycled and 915.50 miles walked into work.
- We offset 1050 tonnes of carbon in safe water projects, renewable energy projects, reforestation and cookware projects.
- Encouraged biodiversity in the clinic by installing our green shed roof and planting lavender, clematis and honeysuckle within the carpark.
- Started our ‘swap shop’ within the team, where we bring in old items and clothes we no longer want, where they head off to a free, loving home.
- Took part in the Great British Beach Clean.
- Installed swift boxes in support of The West Bergholt Swift Project
- Introduced blister pack recycling
- Introduced our sustainability suggestion box for clients
These efforts contribute not only to a healthier environment but also to a stronger, more thoughtful practice that reflects the values of our community.
🤝 Our Commitment Continues
While we’re incredibly proud of this achievement, it’s only the beginning. Sustainability is a journey, and we’re committed to continually improving and finding new ways to reduce our environmental footprint. From fostering sustainability awareness among our team to exploring green technologies, we’ll keep working toward a future where excellent veterinary care and environmental stewardship go hand in hand.