Hello,
Welcome to our seventh annual Sustainability Report, as we continue to document our ongoing progress towards a holistic sustainability management.
This new report highlights just how far RETAL has come since I joined in 2018 and is proof of the consistent dedication from top management in embedding sustainability as a strategic priority across our business.
We’ve built our approach on strong stakeholder engagement, thorough materiality and risk assessments to establish clear policies with defined targets and action plans to reduce our impacts and manage our risks.
This solid foundation has led us to first focus on climate action, our main material topic, which is a growing priority both for our global brand-owner customers and society at large. We’ve now achieved a sector-leading position with validated near-term Science-Based Targets (SBTi) and a CDP A- score, among other milestones. Climate will remain central to our efforts in the years to come, and in 2024 we took further steps by setting even more ambitious reduction targets, to reach zero Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 2030. Progress so far is very positive.
The plastic circular economy is equally critical for RETAL, with increasing regulation and public scrutiny on our industry. Through innovation and continuous investment, we’re addressing the technical challenges of using high levels of recycled content imposed by law and meeting future recyclability standards. Our patented tethered closure solution to meet the Single Use Plastic Directive (SUPD) requirements was another great achievement demonstrating our know-how and competitive edge; pillars of our business sustainability.
But while we focus on major environmental impacts, we never lose sight of our holistic sustainability management promise, fully addressing the other topics that are material to RETAL.
Most importantly, our people are key to RETAL’s success, and we remain committed to providing safe and supportive working conditions for everyone. Alongside health and safety, we prioritise anti-discrimination, career management, talent development, and social dialogue to continuously build our human capital. I’m pleased to report steady progress in employee engagement, job satisfaction, and empowerment, supported by collaboration across teams and sustained leadership commitment.
Deploying sustainability practices in our supply chain is also essential to RETAL to avoid disruption and to align with our customers’ expectations. In 2024, we neared completion of our Sustainable Procurement Program targets, with plans to strengthen climate requirements for suppliers going forward.
Embedding sustainability also means transparency. Along with this annual report, customer newsletters, and publicly disclosed external performance evaluations like CDP and EcoVadis, we have reinforced our disclosure and accountability by further aligning with international standards. In 2024, RETAL joined the UN Global Compact, committing to implementing its 10 principles and reporting annually publicly on our progress.
Sustainability is a journey full of challenges that we intend to solve, having already made meaningful progress through our clear action plan. RETAL is fully committed to retaining our position as a sustainability leader in plastic packaging for the benefit of our customers, our employees, and the wider community.
I hope this report meets your expectations and is as accessible as we intended. Please feel free to contact me directly if you’d like to discuss any part of our – or your – sustainability action plan.
