Is your business on track to meet sustainability targets?

Aside from financial aspirations, sustainability is one of the major goals for small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) this year.

However, some are yet to implement any procedures to reach these.

Surprisingly, 40 per cent of homeware firms do not have a strategy in place to meet environmental goals, compared to 80 per cent of business in the food industry, according to research conducted by programming company, SCALA.

In fact, 32 per cent of businesses in the research reported having no established ways of monitoring their environmental impact.

Why is sustainability taking a backseat?

According to research conducted by Sage, whilst half of respondents’ viewed sustainability as important, some reported challenges with actualising their sustainability goals.

The survey included 2,040 decision-makers from UK SMEs, but only a quarter responded that they expect their business to become more sustainable within the next twelve months.

The costs presented by bringing in new measures were a common concern of the businesses, with one third of respondents commenting on this.

What assistance can your business get?

The Net Zero goal for 2050 may seem daunting, but there are several avenues for support to help lower your business’ emissions.

Some simple practices that everyone can implement include reducing energy use by turning off lights and taps when not using them, although businesses will need to make more drastic changes to ensure they are sustainable.

There is a Small Business user guide from the Government that outlines how to measure greenhouse gas emissions and set reduction targets.

Another consideration is investing in more sustainable practices.

This may be expensive in the short-term, nonetheless the long-term benefits may exceed the initial costs and there could also be grants available to lower these.

For instance, a further £30 million of funding has been announced as part of the Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging Challenge to build a sustainable future in the UK.

For support with related matters, contact our expert team.