Ideal Standard has unveiled its roadmap to carbon neutrality and reiterated its commitment to ‘building a better planet’, in its newly-released sustainability report (Together for a Better Future). The report sets out Ideal Standard’s nine key commitments in areas such as decarbonisation, the circular economy, product innovation, safety and equality, which together will drive impactful change.
According to a statement, the nine goals are closely aligned with the sustainability principles defined by the UN Global Compact, which the company joined in 2022, as a mark of its commitment to responsible business actions.
‘Together for a Better Future’ defines clear and accountable goals to monitor and measure progress along the manufacturer’s journey, including its aim to reduce Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions by 30% in 2030, with a view to reaching complete carbon neutrality by 2050, the firm added.
“As one of the leading bathroom manufacturers, we recognise that we have an important role to play when it comes to shaping a responsible future for the industry, and we’re committed to stepping up to that challenge. There’s no one single change we will make as a company that will make us completely sustainable. It’s about looking across the business and making sure that in every area we are committing to progressive, constant change to ensure we make a genuine impact,” said Ideal Standard MENA CEO Ahmed Hafez.
The firm says it has already made significant steps on its sustainability journey, transitioning its UK ceramic plant to fully renewable electricity in 2021, saving 2,200t of CO2 each year. It has also installed over 3,000 photovoltaic panels at its German fittings plant, which will generate 1.2m kWh of energy a year and switched to 100% FFS/PEFC sustainable certified timber in all its products.
In addition, the company has embarked on a journey to achieve zero-waste to landfill by 2030. It notes it is already reusing 100% of its brass and acrylic waste in its own manufacturing processes and is currently working with environmental authorities to unlock new technical solutions to improve its recycling of ceramic waste from 70% to 100% by 2025.
Furthermore, it is committed to eliminating all single use plastic packaging by 2025 and has so far removed 80t of virgin plastic from its packaging through optimisation and transitioning to sustainable alternatives.
Building on Its commitment to sustainability efforts, Ideal Standard recently launched Aesth|ethics, a temporary pop-up showroom in Venice. This event highlighted Ideal Standard’s design prowess, ethical achievements, and sustainability commitments. The carbon-neutral pop-up, held at Arsenale di Venezia, showcased bathroom solutions across product categories and featured a special installation by Chief Design Officer Roberto Palomba. Ideal Standard also partnered with Up2You to offset the event’s carbon emissions, reinforcing their dedication to a sustainable future, the statement highlighted.
Ideal Standard pointed out that transparency has been at the heart of its sustainability programme and, as such, the company is in the process of publishing ‘cradle to grave’ Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for over 5,000 of its products within its largely European supply chain. These EPDs will help architects and specifiers understand the environmental impact of Ideal Standard’s products, how they affect the ecological footprint of their projects and help them to meet environmental targets, it stated.
These full life-cycle assessments will cover products across all product categories including taps, basins, toilets, cisterns, bathtubs, shower trays and more, providing detailed and independently verified information for all bathroom fixtures. The report also launches the company’s new EcoLogic concept. EcoLogic focuses on four key values to enable customers to easily understand the sustainable benefits of Ideal Standard’s product portfolio and make informed purchasing decisions, the statement concluded.