Intertape Polymer Group Inc. (IPG) recently published its 2020 annual sustainability report. Entitled “Our Circular Economy,” the report provides an overview of the company’s sustainability progress in 2020 and highlights future opportunities. According to IPG, the report was prepared in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI): Core option, with details provided in the index section of the report.

“We believe sustainability is one of the core growth drivers of our business in the long term,” said Greg Yull, president and CEO. “Packaging and protective solutions manufacturers that are recognized as thought leaders and bring innovative solutions to customers will be positioned for outsized growth while embedding themselves as good corporate citizens amongst their stakeholders.

“We embrace sustainability at IPG as a way to conduct ourselves every day. Practicing respect toward one another and our communities, delivering innovations and striving for efficiencies and eliminating waste in the use of raw materials, water and energy are inherent to our values. This year’s report details our approach toward sustainability, our achievements and where we have more work to do. The report builds on our prior work and enhances our disclosure, including a materiality assessment to guide our strategy and judge our performance against.”

Highlights of initiatives from 2020 include:

  • Committed to developing safe, circular, and sustainable products as demonstrated with the adoption of a Sustainable Product Design and Development Vision, which places the precautionary principle outlined in the United Nations Global Compact and the Cradle to Cradle® (C2C) design principles as central pillars to guide aspirational sustainable product lifecycle goals
  • Expanded the number of products under the Cradle to Cradle Certified™ Product Standard, a globally recognized measure of safer, more sustainable products; was the first to certify water-activated tape, stretch, and shrink films and woven structure membranes, as well as acrylic and hot-melt carton sealing tapes subsequent to the end of the year
  • Awarded the 2020 ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year for the sixth consecutive year
  • Completed the initial EcoVadis supplier reporting assessment to measure and develop the company’s roadmap for further development
  • Updated supplier contracts to include IPG’s participation in the UN Global Compact and the company’s expectation that suppliers abide by its commitments, even if they are not signatories themselves
  • Established a new Environmental, Social and Governance committee on the board of directors to govern IPG’s stakeholder sustainability activities
  • Formalized the company’s sustainability senior management structure by introducing a new vice president of Sustainability, who reports to the chief financial officer and has responsibility for coordinating and directing the company’s sustainability strategy
  • Signed the Association of Plastics Recyclers Demand Champion Commitment letter signifying IPG’s support of including increased amounts of post-consumer recycled content in its products
  • Joined the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance (REBA), a group of clean energy buyers, energy providers, and service providers working with NGO partners to unlock the marketplace for nonresidential energy buyers, enabling a more rapid transition to a zero-carbon energy future

IPG reports that its key results for the year include:

  • Improved worker safety with a 1.9 total case incident rate (TCIR) and a 0.6 lost workday case incident rate (LWCIR) in 2020
  • 21% of total sales were C2C certified by the end of 2020
  • 47% of the company’s packaging products (by sales), were recyclable, reusable, or compostable by the end of 2020
  • 7% reduction in direct energy use in 2020 compared to 2019
  • 7.2% reduction in energy intensity in 2020 compared to 2019
  • 5.9% reduction in direct CO2 emissions in 2020 compared to 2019
  • 2.8% reduction in carbon intensity in 2020 compared to 2019
  • 6.4% reduction in water usage in 2020 compared to 2019

In 2020, IPG conducted a materiality assessment to identify and prioritize environmental, social, and governance topics relevant to the company and its stakeholders. The results inform the company’s sustainability strategy, governance, and reporting. IPG performed a high-level study of sustainability trends, the UN Global Compact commitments, UN Sustainable Development Goals, relevant Sustainability Accounting Standards Board standards, GRI standards, and other indices/pertinent standards to IPG. The company also reviewed an assessment of peer companies’ priorities, selected customer websites, and reports, and generated an updated master list of topics based on the review. An updated ranking of the topics and the new additions can be found in the report.

Read the full report at www.itape.com/sustainability.