How Duni Group views sustainability
We have a societal development where everyone has to act. At Duni Group, we strive to drive change in our industry towards greater sustainability and circular models.
It can come as no surprise to anyone today that the demands in sustainability are growing rapidly in society. When the World Economic Forum summarized the global risks in 2021, “climate action failure” became the biggest risk in terms of potential impact and likelihood. But climate change itself is not the biggest risk – it is already a fact. Instead, it is our collective failure to limit its effects.
As this is a challenge for society as a whole, everyone must act: legislators, consumers, academia and of course companies. And we must not forget other important aspects, such as the circular economy, biodiversity, resource use or resilient societies. There are many other areas that we also need to consider when securing the future of our society.
Stakeholders with different priorities
We have been working in a structured way with sustainability for many years. In 2021, we reviewed our ambitions and updated our strategy up to 2030. We started with trying to understand what key stakeholders expect from us.
It became clear that expectations vary. For example, regulators prioritize solutions to reuse products while our customers prioritize environmentally sound solutions for the end of the life cycle. Investors, on the other hand, focus on communication and climate change.
A survey of around 125 of our employees shows how we see it internally. The results are summarized in a materiality matrix, which has also been aligned with external key stakeholders.
Three strategic initiatives
Based on this analysis, we saw that the priority areas could be summarized into three strategic initiatives that will help us become the industry’s sustainability leader in 2030:
- Becoming Circular at Scale
- Going Net Zero
- Living the Change
The updated materiality analysis shows that we need to find solutions to end-of-life, continue to choose better materials in products, reduce our climate impact and ensure clear and fact-based environmental communication. All this underpins the sustainability initiatives.
Our materiality analysis is more than a reactive tool for managing risk. It’s a proactive starting point for how we as a company will create value in the future, focusing on opportunities rather than threats. Here, a 2030 perspective helps, but it also means that the relevance of different issues will change over time, which should ensure our continued relevance.
Erik Lindroth
Sustainability Director
The materiality analysis carried out in 2021 with internal and external key stakeholders ensures that sustainability work is based on relevant areas and has formed the basis for our three sustainability initiatives (see next page).
Three sustainability initiatives for 2030
1
Becoming circular at scale
We see circular models in a life cycle perspective. End-of-life solutions are crucial, but we also need to consider product design, the materials to be used, as well as the manufacturing process itself and transport.
2
Going net zero
Climate change is society’s biggest challenge today. We have set a zero vision for emissions by 2030 under the GHG Protocol Scope 1 and 2 and a significant reduction for Scope 3. In 2021, we laid the foundations by creating systems and procedures to continue measuring and reporting our progress.
3
Living the change
We need to create structures that give us the best conditions to develop and succeed with our plans. However, this also means being a fair and equal workplace, constructively involving our suppliers and actively communicating the values we stand for.
Our approach
To help us achieve our future sustainability goals, we have formulated some key principles to help keep us on the right track.
- Fact-based and scientific – addressing real challenges, basing decisions on facts to the greatest extent possible and emphasizing the importance of scientific methods and principles.
- Relevant and competent – we will focus on changing areas that are important to our key stakeholders and ourselves and ensure that we increase sustainability competence throughout the organization.
- Humble, yet confident – we will not take tempting shortcuts, but continue to believe in our values and our strategy and actively and openly promote them.
Our goal is to lead the development of environmentally smart disposable products, with better materials that provide maximum functionality and long-term solutions for recycling, composting or reuse. We believe that single-use products can be a good alternative for take-away food and to reduce food waste.
Still, it is not a universal solution. Multi-use solutions become practical and attractive when combined with digital platforms that enable real collection and reuse of products – and not just something that seems good at first glance.
A broader perspective
A major challenge in sustainability is to create a balance where we can live fulfilling lives today without negatively affecting the conditions for future generations. The goal is for both present and future generations to prosper socially and economically.
There are inherent conflicts in the concept of “triple bottom line” – people, planet, profit – something that we need to address. In this process, the focus shifts from ”sustainability” to the broader concept of “resilience”.
Duni Group wants to be active in this change and drive the development of our industry. The ambition is to give back more than we take, and to enable regenerative business models. Much is still unclear, but it will require cooperation with other stakeholders who share the same ambition. And a firm belief that despite challenges and setbacks, we can help bring about positive change.