See Limited, which specialises in the distribution and fabrication of wood veneer and decorative laminate panels, is taking sustainable steps towards reducing its carbon emissions. However, the company believes that, despite making great strides in its commitment to reach set targets, greenwashing from other companies is having a negative effect on the progress that has been made.
Robert Thompson, CEO at See Limited, has raised concerns about greenwashing and the impact this has on companies genuinely looking to make positive change and encouraging others to strive for change.
Named after its ethical and sustainability ambitions, See Limited stands for Supporting Ethical Enterprise and operates as a holding company for three businesses in the built environment sector – Inspired Surfaces, Performance Panels and Bousfields.
Greenwashing, the act of providing consumers or investors with misleading information about the environmental impact of a company’s products and/or operations to appear more eco-friendly than they are, is rife, according to Robert.
He said:
“As a group we are passionate about sustainability, but it is disappointing to see that there is so much greenwashing, particularly relating to the term ‘net zero’.
“Net zero is not a passing trend but part of a long- term plan put in place to help avert a climate emergency. Sustainability is a daily topic of conversation at See Limited, which helps to increase awareness of our actions and internal understanding of the topic, as well as generate new ideas for reducing our carbon emissions across our group’s activities.
“Greenwashing from other, less scrupulous, businesses affects general understanding of what ‘sustainability’ and ‘net zero’ mean. To combat this, we will continue to educate our customers about the steps we are taking towards reducing our carbon footprint and remain committed to being open and honest about our actions, sharing the data which supports our efforts, as well as offering support to our customers on how they can take action to reduce their own carbon footprint and create a more sustainable supply chain. We have also had to rethink our own language when communicating what we are doing.”
Since 2020, the company has established four key initiatives that help drive its green agenda:
■ Carbon Footprint Report: working with external environmental consultants EcoAct, See Limited commissions a Carbon Footprint Report every year which records the CO2 impact of all three businesses in the group.
■ Carbon Reduction Team: the company formed an internal Carbon Reduction Team which meets bimonthly and uses the findings of the Annual Carbon Report to implement initiatives to further reduce CO2 emissions year-on-year.
■ Tree planting: partnering with More Trees, for every order of Pura® NFC – Performance Panels’ weatherproof cladding for the exterior of buildings – the group plants 20 trees.
■ Science Based Targets (SBTi): See Limited signed up to this initiative, demonstrating its commitment to adopting best practice to significantly reduce its carbon footprint. Typically, large corporates sign up to SBTi and See Limited believes it is one of the first SMEs to enrol on the programme.
Keen to do something on a local level, See Limited attended the Sustainability Summit 2024 at the University of Northampton earlier this year and has recently joined the Northampton Sustainability Accord, a collective of like- minded organisations that share the same target of reducing carbon emissions. The group has also been recognised in several national and local sustainability award programmes.
To find out more about See Limited’s sustainability initiatives, visit our website.
