Brambles has released its annual Sustainability Review, which reports on its material Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues and achievements for the financial year ending 30 June 2021.
With its origins in meat transport in the Newcastle NSW region as far back as 1875, Brambles has developed to become a global supply chain solutions company operating in 60 countries through the CHEP brand of pallets and transport containers.
Having successfully met the key objectives of its 2020 sustainability strategy, this time last year Brambles announced its new 2025 Sustainability Targets and ambition to pioneer regenerative supply chains.
Just 12 months into the program, Brambles’ Sustainability Review highlights tangible achievements which show the company’s progress toward a net-positive future.
Brambles is now a carbon-neutral operations business with the company’s net CO2 emissions offset by investing in reforestation projects and procurement of renewable electricity.
As part of its Planet Positive targets, Brambles has also maintained 100 per cent sustainable sourcing of timber and this year launched the first-ever Brambles pallet product made from 100 per cent post-consumer plastic waste.
Brambles achieved 32 per cent of women in management roles as it progresses its Workplace Positive targets to include rolling out inclusivity, wellbeing-at-work and accessibility initiatives, as well as a commitment to at least 40 per cent of management roles being held by women, and doubling the number of women in its plants by 2025.
Brambles reported its in-kind equipment donations helped provide more than 17,400,000 people with meals via its food rescue partners across the globe during the 2020-21 financial year.
“In our new five-year sustainability strategy, Brambles charts a clear course towards a truly regenerative supply chain, with reuse, resilience and regeneration as our core tenets,” said Graham Chipchase Brambles CEO.
“These early results show that our strategy is not just about words, but about actions. Every achievement is a concrete step closer to a net-positive future.”
In the last year, Brambles’ solutions have helped its customers achieve savings of 2.4 million metric tonnes of CO2 – equivalent to the CO2 emitted by 454,500 homes in one year, as well as 3,160 mega-litres of water, equivalent to approximately 1,240 Olympic sized pools.
Other environmental savings included 3.1 million cubic metres of wood and 3.2 million trees and 1.4 million tonnes of waste.
In a magazine published by Dow Jones, Brambles was named the second most sustainable company globally in 2021, and Corporate Knights rated the company 18th in their Global 100 list of most sustainable corporations worldwide.