Protec had already begun working with sustainability, with their Proplex Closed Loop remanufacturing scheme for example, however, wanted support to develop and implement a more structured and holistic approach to implementing sustainability throughout the organisation, in the form of a sustainability strategy.
Action Sustainability were brought in to develop a sustainability strategy that was relevant and ambitious, and to provide a plan for implementing the strategy.
Working with Protec, a series of workshops were completed to identify what the drivers for sustainability were for Protec and to identify the sustainability challenges most relevant to the organisation; this included a materiality assessment.
Workshops were also carried out with other stakeholders, including Protec’s clients, to identify which sustainability challenges were most relevant across the industry, to understand progress towards addressing these and to identify opportunities for collaboration. Along with a benchmarking exercise which examined the sustainability performance and ambitions of several other organisations, Action Sustainability worked with Protec to identify the sustainability challenges most relevant to Protec, and the challenges Protec could have the most impact on.
Through several calls with senior leadership a sustainability strategy was formulated, outlining key sustainability commitments and targets. These were based around three key themes; circular economy, climate change and social value.
An action plan was also developed which explored each sustainability commitment and the actions needed over the short-term and long-term to achieve these.
The process of developing a sustainability strategy enabled Protec to identify their key sustainability priorities and allow them to identify the key challenges they should be focusing on. Protec were, and are, already demonstrating great examples of how to work with sustainability however, the development of a strategy has helped increase awareness of everything that was being done across the organisation and how this fits into the overall sustainability strategy.
It has also helped communicate the sustainability initiatives they’ve taken to their staff, clients and other stakeholders, demonstrating their commitment to sustainability and the commitment to action to address these sustainability challenges.
The action plan that was developed has helped Protec understand what key actions are required for each commitment and when, making reaching each commitment more realistic. Protec is now working towards the sustainability targets and commitments outlined, contributing to the organisation having a positive sustainable impact.
