The world leading EcoVadis programme (see ecovadis.com) provides a rigorous framework for evaluating corporate sustainability practices and in communicating these to customers and suppliers alike.
We are pleased to announce that INPACS has been awarded the platinum EcoVadis medal with INPACS now belonging to the top 1% of companies assessed under the programme. This result demonstrates the continuing efforts of INPACS members to foster sustainable business practices within their operations, supply chains and markets.
The award of the Platinum medal follows achieving the Gold standard in the previous two years and demonstrates the commitment of INPACS to be a leader in promoting sustainability within the cleaning and hygiene industry. This year, INPACS was recognized in particular for its efforts in the area of reducing carbon emissions and promoting ‘a circular economy’ through recycling together with our partners.
At present throughout Europe (including the UK) the rates of landfill and incineration of plastic waste remain high at 31 % and 39 %, respectively. Investment in new plastic recycling capacity has remained low and this has pushed much plastic waste disposal into incineration, resulting in an increase in carbon emissions.
As we can see the impact of recycling plastics can be dramatic:
In promoting a circular economy, INPACS has set as its key goal that the packaging of all own brand products should be recyclable to the highest extent possible and the balance reused (rather than sent to incineration). This is consistent with the European Union European Plastics Strategy that all plastic packaging within commercial product markets is reusable or recyclable by 2030.
This is a significant initiative and when fully achieved will place INPACS and members at the forefront of developing products which meet the most demanding of sustainability objectives.