A whitepaper released by PalletEarth has found that complying with new sustainability regulations could be an uphill battle for many companies across the EU and UK. And, with nearly 50,000 companies subject to mandatory reporting from FY2024 – the ripple effect will be felt across the global economy.
“From January 2024 companies will need to be able to report across a range of new environment, social and governance (ESG) topics that are more complex than ever before,” says Dave Cashmore, GM PalletEarth.
“Having a robust understanding and visibility across your supply chain will ensure companies are able to both comply and maximise the wider benefits that these insights provide to their business. However, when we investigated this, we found that many companies simply don’t have the infrastructure in place to do this.”
The paper sites findings from recent research, including: 75% of businesses are yet to engage with suppliers to reduce emissions; 60% of UK businesses ill-prepared for Scope 3 emissions reporting requirements; 87% of procurement professionals yet to fully map their supply chain network.
Non-compliance could see large financial penalties imposed, and broad sanctions such as warnings, bans or potentially criminal convictions. However, PalletEarth warns that the ramifications are wider than compliance alone.
“Today, consumers and companies alike are increasingly demanding lower impact and better sustainability measures from the companies they buy from or work with. Recent research from Kantar found that 47% of global consumers have stopped buying products because of their impact on the environment or society."
For a business to thrive in this new era of increased sustainability scrutiny it is critical to be able to measure, track and clearly report against its ESG performance. And Cashmore believes it’s never been more important to embrace technology to help.
“The material intelligence provided through the built in tracking of our pallet system gives companies full visibility across their supply chains. The measurable data and reports help companies to identify ways to implement changes that drive efficiencies, cut costs, and reduce their environmental impact.
“And we know that this is helping to reduce emissions. Recent product trials with a global produce exporter found it was able to cut its CO2 equivalent per pallet by over 70% per journey between Philippines and Japan by using PalletEarth pallets.”
Additionally, these insights provide companies with actionable changes to internal systems, processes and infrastructure to deliver workplace improvements for their staff, helping to retain their workforce while also making it easier to comply with health and safety governance reporting needs.
Read the full whitepaper here for an in-depth look at how the changes are shaping a new direction for the circular economy, and the practical steps companies can take.
For more information:
Dave Cashmore
PalletEarth
www.palletearth.com
