Green marketing promotes genuine environmentally friendly products and practices. Then there is ‘greenwashing’ – an over-marketing of green initiatives and deceptive tactics that give a false impression of environmental responsibility. The good news is that some Maltese companies are truly walking the talk, thus fostering the needed trust that meaningful change for a more sustainable future is in fact, possible.
“Our first step was prioritising the idea of sustainability and having the Board and C-suite embrace it. A senior-level individual tasked specifically with ESG then, solidified our commitment to make the investments and operational changes required,” says Kate De Cesare who last year was appointed Chief Sustainability Officer at Eden Leisure Group.
After an assessment to identify the most material areas, the company started measuring carbon emissions, waste, energy and water consumption and adopted technologies to track its performance and tackle problems in real time.
“Recent initiatives included an investment in a water filtration plant at the InterContinental hotel to replace all plastic water bottles from guest rooms and conferences with reusable ones which is saving 320,000 plastic bottles, and an estimated 6.4 tonnes of PET and 16.1 tonnes of glass.”
“A waste management programme to measure and record all waste is also saving over 1.6 tonnes of bread from the bin annually as well as tonnes of plastic, through eliminating plastic key cards and introducing refillable amenities. Recent improvements have also reduced water consumption per room night by more than 50 per cent.”
De Cesare acknowledges that while investment in more sustainable operations can be substantial, the return on investment turned out justified.
“We have already made large investments and planning more soon. We did avail ourselves of some funding opportunities, but we are a bit limited as currently, most grants are still unavailable to large companies or are tied to a de-minimis,” she adds.
Eden Leisure Group’s plans include upgrades to its hotel kitchens with new and more efficient appliances to eliminate LPG gas to significantly reduce electricity and water, investments in renewable thermal heating systems with an estimated annual generation of 166,913kwh of energy, an upgrade of Its Rooms Management System and investment in a new building management system.
“Alongside all the above, we are also training our employees and surveying them to understand their perceptions of our company in terms of ESG, what their expectations are, and to see what we could be doing better. Ultimately, we know that our employees and guests prefer to work with companies with ethical practices in place,” she concludes.
Vivian’s move to its new premises last August was an opportunity to start afresh and one of the very first initiatives was the setting up of a Sustainability Committee.
“For some, the values of ESG can be a bit abstract but when you look at the real values ESG represents, these are nothing more than a concrete manifestation of a company’s belief in transparent sustainable practices. More simply, a better way of doing things,” says Joanna Gatt, Director at Vivian who heads the company’s Sustainability Committee.
Gatt explains how the first task of Vivian’s Sustainability Committee was to establish a set of clear and simple house rules that would act as a compliance checkbox.
“Really and truly, these rules cover those little things that make a difference: from email management to reduce carbon footprints to energy conservation, water usage reduction, waste separation, paper use reduction, and digitalization.”
“We also invested in comprehensive training and today, practically all the workforce is already well-versed in ESG and sustainability practices. We did not need to think big, after all, as the cliche goes, sustainability is a journey, not a destination,” she adds.
Vivian’s commitment to sustainability extends beyond internal practices and since its move to Marsa, the company started engaging with the community and invited the Marsa Local Council to collaborate on clean-up campaigns and offering its expertise within the community through blood glucose and blood pressure testing and talks.
“As an SME, we are not yet obliged to undertake ESG reporting but we believe in setting an example. Our reporting on the Malta ESG Platform will now prepare and align us with future regulatory requirements such as the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).”
“Most importantly, we want our people to be part of this change because we believe that sustainable practices can only be successfully attained when there is ownership from every person within the organisation. I feel this approach is what makes sustainability in all its aspects, more meaningful,” she adds.
Yolande Svensson from Hudson Holdings noted that before taking action, companies must go through a process of sensitising themselves to the realities tied to sustainability, the environmental challenges and what part we all play in turning this around.
“Unfortunately, the fashion industry remains a great contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, but sustainable practices are possible to significantly reduce consumption and waste. Customers can make a difference by choosing those brands that proactively try to reduce their environment, which makes us proud that we represent brands which are spearheading sustainable clothing by manufacturing shoes with recycled bottles or using sustainable cotton and natural fibres which cause less damage to the environment.”
“At Hudson, we believe that ‘Change starts within’. We have adopted this as our slogan as we started our sustainability journey to align ourselves with the EU’s CSRD requirements. We are currently conducting an exercise with our consultants to identify our ESG impact but in practice, we have already embarked on several important initiatives.”
Hudson has already started working with brands to reduce packaging material to ensure that packaging can be reused or recycled, is changing delivery vans to e-vehicles to ensure more sustainable deliveries and is utilising the underground reservoir at its head Office in Burmarrad for the storage and re-use of rainwater.
“A pilot project at Hudson Malta and Hudson Algeria has introduced recycling bins in our stores, offices and other premises where clients and employees can deposit their unwanted clothing and shoes for eventual reuse or recycling.”
“Our PV system on the roof of our Distribution centre in Hal Far, an area which spans around 3000 sqm is also distributing to various parts of Africa, acting as the optimal midpoint between international brands and in-country retailers. These panels can produce a total of 662,640kwh and offset 250 tons of Carbon Dioxide per year which is equivalent to that produced by 424 flights between London, UK and New York, USA!”
And, in tying with the spirit of Hudson’s brands, Hudson Algeria and Hudson Morocco have brought communities together for both team building and environmental conservation through plogging events – where participants jog and pick up litter.
“What counts most is that events like these continue to showcase the power of collective action and the importance of community engagement in preserving the environment,” concludes Svensson.
The Corporate Times will be dedicating more space to remarkable practices in ESG and sustainability. If you believe your business is doing something innovative, contact James Vella Clark at james@corporateidgroup.com