TODAY’S SUSTAINABLE REALITY
As of 2019, 59% of businesses claimed to have internal sustainability initiatives in place.* But does the reality match the intentions? Market pressures to be ‘greener’ can lead businesses to inadvertently box-tick or ‘greenwash’.
The RCP Sustainability Journey is our commitment to becoming as sustainable as possible, supporting your business in taking steps to act sustainably too. We’re not claiming the impossible of offering all the answers today. Instead, our Journey charts a plan for progress. It’s about making incremental sustainability gains, helping protect the planet against a backdrop of commercial considerations and challenges:
“We haven't set ourselves to any specific targets. We're mindful we should be doing something about it. Our customers always want to know, what are you doing as a business to become more sustainable?”
MRO business*
"There is no training or comms around sustainability in the business as far as I know. Any initiatives happen within a small part of the company, perhaps driven by a client, but there is nothing company wide.”
FM contractor*
Alongside doing the right thing, commercial considerations are key drivers for business’ desire to act more sustainably.
However, if you buy better, you waste less, reduce your business costs and help reduce landfill.
The RCP Sustainability Journey is the first step to communicating our commitment to the planet, and to our partners. Join us on our Journey, and follow our progress against targets:
We prioritize only using packaging that is needed. Just like the Sustainable Packaging Coalition, our mission is to source responsibly and optimize and recover packaging resources where possible. We’re targeting 2025 for 100% of paper-based packaging to come from certified, verified or recycled sources.
We constantly look at new ways to meet customer needs and reduce environmental impacts. Our six key strategies for sustainable product design include ‘system efficiency’. This encourages minimized waste of resource throughout each phase of a product’s lifecycle.
We consider sustainability across the board. It’s not just the products we make that are subject to sustainability scrutiny. We are focused on opportunities to improve energy efficiency across our facilities and are proud to have invested in renewable energy solutions.
Our strategies for sustainable product design will be a key focus in the RCP innovation planning process. We’ll also be evaluating the most highly regarded certifications, to support sustainable development of our range and ensure we measure our efforts against stringent third-party standards.
Mike McDermott, CEO, Commercial Group, Newell Brands
