Sustainable goals

Working with experts that can advise, guide and provide

With pressures on businesses like skills shortages, restricted budgets and stretched resources, having procurement processes with the right sustainability criteria backed by knowledge is often challenging. While the best intentions may exist, getting traction with buying sustainably isn’t always easy and doesn’t always result in meaningful impact.

In the RS health and safety report ‘Striving for Excellence’ report, sustainability was cited as high priority area, with 78 per cent of survey respondents comprising health and safety professionals saying they would pay a premium for more sustainable products. But it’s still important for them to be able to demonstrate the value in these purchases so that helping preserve the planet doesn’t cost them the earth.

The best approach is to work with providers who have expert knowledge, backed with the right products and solutions to be able to help with sustainability goals, within budget constraints. Cutting through the claims will help to optimise effect. Taking up services like on-site audits and analysis of consumption habits may help reveal areas where more sustainable products could be used in place of the standard product, or identify areas of product waste that could be addressed to reduce consumption, which not only has sustainability benefits but cost savings too.

Easier identification of proven, more sustainable products is needed

Working with expert product and service solution providers means being privy to the latest innovations in sustainable product development and the evolving best practice on sustainable processes. Having access to product ranges that have easy-to-identify sustainability credentials is also incredibly helpful for businesses.

Being able to see at-a-glance whether a product is more sustainable should be as easy as it is when buying a food product that features the traffic light system for key nutritional elements. RS launched its Better World range in 2023, which comprises products that are either made more sustainably, offer a sustainable solution like reducing energy and emissions or support circularity, or have an increased lifespan due to being reusable, recyclable or repairable. The range now has more than 30,000 products and is backed by a transparent claims-based framework that outlines the methodology of qualification for each and every product in the range. The aim is to expand the product range to 100,000, making it even easier for customers to choose sustainability without hassle or significantly increased expense.

Businesses should try to choose providers that can offer this kind of peace of mind, but also check credentials of the claims. For certain products, elements to look out for could be third-party approved sustainability certifications and energy labels, Verified Life-Cycle Assessments (LCAs) and Environmental Product Declaration (The International EPD system).

As sustainability continues to climb the business agenda, we’d hope more suppliers move towards helping businesses adopt greener products, with clear information backed by verified claims and complying with necessary legislation. Certainly, purchasers within organisations should be helping to drive this movement through demand and closer scrutiny of supplier and product claims.

Key innovations in the evolving product landscape

Of course, for products that are more sustainable to be adopted, they must be developed. It’s an ever-evolving picture in the product development world with more and more manufacturers recognising the importance of making real strides in this area.

We aim to work closely with manufacturers to keep abreast of their innovations and feedback on what our customers want and need. We’re seeing some great developments like the wider use of bioplastics being used for the manufacture of protective eyewear and head gear. Bioplastics are plastics made from bio-based polymers and contribute to more sustainable commercial plastic life cycles. Virgin polymers are created from renewable or recycled materials and they can be recycled or reused at end of life.

We’re also seeing the increased use of more natural fibres: the adoption of paper manufacture using waste straw is growing. This paper is bought back and can be recycled many times, creating a circularity that is a key element in sustainability.

And the use of recycled materials in workwear continues to increase, with materials like bamboo fibres being used in cut protection gloves. Protective footwear is getting the sustainability treatment too as some manufacturers are using higher proportions of recycled materials; packaging them in recycled packaging and using renewable energy in their manufacture.

Education is important and we champion that with provision of events and forums where best practice and advice can be shared among suppliers and customers, and challenges aired and discussed.

The bottom line is when it comes to sustainability and planet preservation, we’re all in it together. Working in unison to support innovation, education and availability of more sustainable options, and advising businesses so they can make informed purchasing decisions, is the only way to advance the sustainability agenda and ensure meaningful and tangible outcomes.

Nik Rilatt is senior category manager for RS Safety Solutions. For more information, visit www.uk.rs-online.com