The Natural Choice
A Wax Manufacturer’s View on Sustainability
Our company has been around for a while now, and we have been into natural waxes and materials from the start.
Even one hundred of years ago, British Wax was the supplier to go to for anyone interested in vegetable waxes, as well as natural waxes like beeswax.
These products are increasingly becoming more important to our business.
In fact in 2010 we estimate the mix of renewable to non-renewable materials we purchased was about 50/50.
In 2021 it was 90/10.
So what is sustainability?
We believe it is our collective responsibility to live on this planet without negatively impacting it.
Human societies, businesses and the environment are interlocked and intertwined.
Our people, regardless of being family, clients or employees, need clean air to breathe, a climate that is conducive to human living, healthy, non-extinct animals and clean oceans.
Only when a business is not having a negative impact on the society and the environment, we can talk about sustainability.
And if all this can sound great in theory, but a bit vague in practice, please contiune reading about our practical approach to sustainability and our pledge towards a cleaner, sustainable future.
Our internal audit
We looked at our own operations, such as:
Travel
We adopted work from home, we hire locally, and encourage the use of public transport.
Transportation of goods
We are also encouraging our customers to plan ahead more, thus avoiding air freight, and instead ship by sea. It is difficult to get an exact like for like comparison, but by the very least air freight releases at least 40 times more CO2 than sea freight.
Energy use
We are in the process of building two new factories, designed for sustainability from the start.
For example, melting wax is fairly energy intensive, but we are aiming to fulfill 100% of our energy needs with self generated solar energy or purchase renewable energy, and by timing it right during the day, heat the wax for the following day when the sun is at its strongest, using the melted wax as energy storage.
Packaging
We looked at how our suppliers pack their materials, and how we pack ours.
Some of our suppliers have been quite willing to change their packaging, while in other cases, we have found ways to handle it better.
We have dramatically reduced the amount of our waste going to land fill, and have reduced the amount of packaging we are purchasing.
Raw Materials
Approximately 90% of all the waxes and waxy materials we now handle are from renewable sources.
For many years, we sold non RSPO stearic acid without really questioning the status quo with our industrial customers.
So we looked at how we could purchase sustainable stearic acid without it affecting us commercially.
Although RSPO stearic acid costs more, we were able to achieve a neutral price by gaining commitments from our customers and purchasing in larger, more efficient quantities.
At present, it’s not something customers particularly value, but we as a business felt it was important to make the change.
Our pledge to the SME Climate Hub
The SME Climate Hub is an internationally recognized climate commitment, and is the official pathway for small- and medium-sized businesses to join the United Nations’ Race to Zero campaign.
SMEs joining the SME Climate Hub commit to halving their emissions before 2030 and achieving net zero before 2050.
British Wax commits to teach net zero freenhouse gas emissions by 2040.
https://smeclimatehub.org/