Essentra Joins United Nations Global Compact Initiative To Benchmark And Share Best Practice In Sustainability

Essentra PLC, the global manufacturer of essential industrial components, has joined the United Nations Global Compact initiative – a voluntary leadership platform for the development, implementation and disclosure of responsible business practices.

The announcement is in line with the organisation’s commitment to taking responsible action to create a better world. It follows just weeks after the award of a silver medal by EcoVadis, the global provider of business sustainability ratings, as confirmation of the organisation’s ongoing journey towards a more sustainable future.

The UN Global Compact is a call to companies everywhere to align their operations and strategies with 10 universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption, and to take action in support of UN goals and issues embodied in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Jennifer Spence, Head of Sustainability Strategy at Essentra PLC, says the business has a clear roadmap to becoming a genuine leader for sustainability in its chosen industry: “Joining the UN Global Compact initiative is another tangible sign of the critical importance we attach to transparency in meeting our sustainability goals and in our wider commitment to Environment, Social and Governance (ESG),” she says.

“Being part of the initiative will enable us to benefit from the learnings and experiences of thousands of businesses around the world as well as sharing our own best-practice expertise. It is not only a great networking opportunity, but also gives us access to tools, resources and training to accelerate our existing plans for achieving net-zero and becoming an exemplar for ESG in manufacturing.”

Essentra’s 2022 Annual Report showed that the business has exceeded its 2025 scope 1 and 2 emissions targets, reducing emissions by 27% and emissions intensity by 35% since 2019. The Company aims to reach net zero in its operations by 2040 and across its value chain by 2050. In 2022, 12 sites, double that of the previous year, also achieved zero waste to landfill.

Launched in 2000, the UN Global Compact is the largest corporate sustainability initiative in the world, with more than 15,000 companies and 3,800 non-business signatories based in over 160 countries, and more than 69 Local Networks.