Strategic Management and Sustainability #34
Corporate sustainability: How many companies have a sustainability plan?
Good morning,
How many companies are committed to sustainability goals? According to a WEF article “Only 0.2% of companies were strongly aligned to the UN SDGs - a plan to create a more sustainable future by 2030, with 193 countries on board”.
In the penultimate newsletter of the year, we continue with examples of corporate sustainability. Today we bring in three companies that have announced a sustainable agenda or sustainable actions trying to cover various areas of sustainability. Many of these actions have already appeared in previous newsletters and most are aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals.
The following companies are mentioned:
Walmart’s sustainability actions. By Pablo Area Díaz de Atauri
Inditex’s sustainability actions. By Pablo Area Díaz de Atauri
Siegwerk’s New Sustainable Business Agenda by 2025. By Nadja Marsenic
Enjoy reading,
Gloria Álvarez Hernández
Today's newsletter is 1162 words, about a 5-minute read.
Walmart’s sustainability actions
Pablo Area Díaz de Atauri
Walmart, the world's largest retailer, is redoubling its efforts to address the growing climate crisis by announcing its goal of achieving zero 'real' emissions across the company's global operations by 2040, that is, without resorting to carbon offsets (e.g., tree planting), it says on its website.
The U.S. company and its Foundation also pledge to help protect, manage, or restore at least 50 million acres of land and one million square miles of ocean by 2030 and thus help combat the loss of nature that threatens the planet.
As part of the transition, the company will reach 100% renewable energy by 2035, as it simultaneously works to make buildings more efficient. In addition, the company is also eliminating other emissions by switching to low-impact refrigerants and moving away from fossil fuels.
SUSTAINABILITY ACTIONS:
Over the past 15 years, sustainability has become a fundamental principle of Walmart's business. The company states that they prioritize people and the planet with the goal of sourcing responsibly, selling sustainable products, protecting natural resources, and reducing waste and emissions.
Among the 'green' actions undertaken by the retailer, we have to highlight its partnership last July with Closed Loop Partners, Target and CVS Health to launch 'Beyond the Bag', a three-year initiative aimed at reinventing the single-use plastic bag.
Also, in August 2020, Walmart and Sam's Club teamed up to source beef products more sustainably by 2025, including prioritizing soil health, animal welfare, responsible use of antibiotics and working with suppliers to improve grazing and grain sourcing management practices on a total of 12 million acres (more than nine million soccer fields).
Sources:
https://www.foodretail.es/retailers/walmart-cero-emisiones-2040-sostenibilidad_0_1481551843.html
Inditex’s sustainability actions
Pablo Area Díaz de Atauri
Protecting biodiversity, reducing energy or water consumption, or making efficient use of the resources used. Inditex's commitments to sustainability go beyond its products. They cover the entire value chain through specific commitments in each area of its business model: design, manufacturing, logistics and stores.
Some of these objectives are very visible to customers and can be checked from their own stores or online platforms. This is the case of the progress made by Zara, Pull&Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho, Zara Home and Uterqüe to incorporate increasingly sustainable materials through their Join Life label that already incorporate more than 35% of their garments or their commitment to the collection of garments that are no longer used, very visible through the containers located in the stores and which has already collected more than 60,000 tons since the project was launched in 2015.
One of the keys is the company's commitment to clean energy: its ten distribution centers, all located in Spain, operate with 100% renewable energy. In addition, all of them are built and managed according to the highest international sustainability standards, certified under the LEED seal of the US Green Building Council.
Sustainable packaging
Its sustainable packaging program, Green to Pack, favors the introduction of recycled materials, extends their useful life, and makes subsequent recycling possible. And all this, starting with the boxes in which its garments travel. Inditex has standardized the boxes in which it moves all its merchandise. In 2020, the Group purchased 16 million FSC-certified boxes with 64% recycled cardboard from the market, which it sends directly to its suppliers to deliver its products.
These boxes are then reused to ship products from their distribution centers to stores around the world. They are reused as many times as possible, about five uses on average. When they can no longer be reused, they are sent for recycling. The cardboard obtained from the recycling process of Green to Pack boxes is used, among other applications, to manufacture the boxes for Zara's online shipments.
Zero waste to landfill
The Zero Waste program is designed to recover the waste generated at Inditex's headquarters, factories and logistics facilities through proper classification, collection, and subsequent recycling by authorized waste managers. In 2020, 91% of its paper, cardboard, wood, plastics, metal, and textile waste generated was sent for reuse and recycling through the circuits. This avoids the use of virgin raw materials. The Group's objective is to achieve zero waste in these operations by 2023.
Sources:
Siegwerk’s New Sustainable Business Agenda by 2025
Nadja Marsenic
Siegwerk is a leading supplier for printing inks specializing in packaging applications worldwide. Recently, they have launched an ambitious sustainability agenda focusing on seven measurable targets to be achieved by 2025. Its new sustainable business strategy called HorizonNOW plans to tackle the challenges that require immediate action, hence the “NOW”. Siegwerk’s CEO Nicolas Wiedmann, stated that Siegwerk’s ambition behind the HorizonNOW initiative comes from conducting “business with the next generation in mind, while driving the latest innovations in safe, circular and digital packaging solutions.”
The initiative focuses on seven measurable goals, based on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. These include:
Ensuring that all the suppliers Siegwerk works with are completely committed to fulfilling the UN Global Compact Corporate Social Responsibility requirements.
To establish product environmental footprint data for all Siegwerk’s products.
Achieve reusable, renewable, or recyclable packaging for 75% of all products or services sold.
Set safe ink industry standards in consumer and environmental safety by proactively improving their products and setting new boundaries.
Achieve carbon neutral emissions globally.
Ensure a Total Incident Rate of less than 1.0.
Achieve minimum gender representation at executive level of 15 percent.
The program impacts four integral business areas, Operations and Supply Chain, Product Safety and Responsibility, the Circular Economy, and People and Communities. In fact, to meet these new goals, Siegwerk has set up a Sustainability Office that will ensure the implementation and advancement of the sustainable business agenda. The head of the office, Alina Marm, emphasized that Siegwerk has “moved the sustainability agenda far forward” and has “seized the opportunity to drive the Circular Economy with carbon neutrality in mind while contributing to a better, more sustainable future”.
Source: