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BOSS Today #55 SUSTAINABILITY

So, What’s On The Agenda Now? state business, but one that creates
To summarise, the areas of sustainability a service the people want to pay for.”
that are most on the agenda right With that in mind, Risbridger has
now are to do firstly with product and worked to eliminate waste; create
environment i.e. closed recycling loops; not buy any
packaging materials (and to challenge
n The reduction in the production their suppliers on the packaging that
of waste they are using); contract delivery out
n Improvements in the sustainability to electric vehicles; put together a
of packaging full range of green products “so that “It’s all about having some
n Adopting a circular economy people can run an office and have a really concrete shorter
(i.e. recycle and re-use) lower environmental impact”; and
n The reduction of carbon footprints launch a range of products called term goals like ‘net zero by
n Measuring and reducing the impact ‘Products For Life’, made in countries 2050’, with the long term
of greenhouse gases (the UK where there are good environmental ambition behind it.”
Government’s plan is for ‘net zero’ conditions for manufacturing and
by 2050) working conditions for staff. Jo Pybus,
n Supporting biodiversity, conserving Sustainability and Public Affairs
resources and not destroying, but n Because of the weight of requests for Manager, Essity UK & Ireland
regenerating, habitats information on sustainability from
n In our industry particularly, a trend its end user base, Banner has been
against toxins such as xylene and used by EVO to try sustainability
toluene in – for example – marker initiatives out before rolling them
pens out across the rest of the group, as
Spence explains: “We’ve brought in a
Also, what is coming up very clearly is a responsible procurement policy and
drive to sustainable human practises, i.e. a Code of Conduct so that we are
n Ethical working very clear about our expectations
n Respect for human life from our supplier base and we can
n Living up to labour standards evidence how we’ve done that to our
public sector customers. We have a “By our centenary year
Many Paths – One Goal programme called Evolution where our
Given the broad nature of the above – CSR purpose is to go above and beyond in 2026 a minimum of 90%
and the wide diversity of our industry to create better outcomes across four of our sales will come
– it is unsurprising that each of the pillars: the Environment, Community, from products that are
four companies interviewed for this Supply Chain and People. For each of
feature has taken their own individual these, we are setting out where we’re sustainable.”
approaches on sustainability: going, setting targets, tracking our
progress, and measuring what we David Harman,
n Jay Risbridger’s Green Stat was have achieved. So, we have a good Product & Services Director,
originally set up in 1989 as The Green document now that sets out all the Lyreco UK
Business Company, with a particular different activities and we are applying
and fundamental approach from the pressure to ourselves and to our supply
very start: “Our first consideration chain to act differently – and it also
was ensuring that our primary aim includes what we think the impacts of
was to create a green business, not those activities will be.
to create one that was profitable
or one that was intended to grow n Manufacturer Essity has very recently
as large as possible because, to me, published plans for its journey to ‘net
green growth is an oxymoron – you zero’, as Pybus explains: “It’s all about
can’t have endless growth in a finite having some really concrete shorter
world. So we tried to create a steady term goals like ‘net zero by 2050’, with

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