Waste Impact Report
Draper Tools has focused on reducing its plastic packaging as part of its sustainability efforts – cutting over 20% of its annual tonnage in 2023. CEO Matt Sheen and other members of the team discuss their efforts.
Matt Sheen, CEO at Draper Tools
What prompted Draper Tools to start changing packaging from plastic to cardboard?
Matt Sheen, CEO at Draper Tools: “We know that simply by being here and going about our business, we affect the environment. However, we work hard to minimise that impact – and strive to make a positive difference where we can. Packaging is just one aspect of our overall sustainability policy of continuous improvement, which encompasses everything from our energy use to recycling and supply chain, as well as employee wellbeing and supporting the local community.
“It’s no secret that using packaging in an environmentally responsible way is a challenge experienced across many industries. At Draper Tools, we’re no exception to this and it’s something we’ve been working to address for a while now. We’re proud to share our progress to date, though it is of course an ongoing challenge. We will continue to create targets and invest in and evolve our environmental and sustainability policies, sharing our progress along the way and keeping ourselves accountable.”
Have the packaging changes been easy to introduce or has there been challenges?
Pete Mintrim, Packaging Buyer at Draper Tools: “The size and scale of our organisation does present challenges. There are over 10,000 product lines in the Draper range, and we ship thousands of orders each week to over 70 countries, so the volumes, lead times and logistics involved in what we do bring some complexities. However, we’ve been proactive in our approach to redesigning packaging to reduce waste, which has led to a 20% reduction in plastic packaging per unit sold between 2019 and 2023, and we’re confident we can go even further.
“We’re committed to reducing our reliance on plastics, opting instead for paper-based solutions where suitable, eliminating unnecessary plastic from transit packaging and removing shrink film from colour cartons and display sleeves. Where single-use plastic is absolutely unavoidable, we aim to use plastic made from at least 30% recycled content.
“We consider every aspect of sustainable packaging and shipping. That’s why we’re working hard to reduce pack weight with better packaging design. As an example, we now ship wheelbarrows as stacked components and build them when they arrive. This level of consideration is constantly being applied to our product lines, which helps us meet any challenges head on.”
What other sustainability initiatives have you introduced or are you considering?
Will Demou, Sustainable Packaging Coordinator at Draper Tools: “Draper Tools is proud to have been certified to the ISO 14001 environmental management standard since the year 2000. Our environmental focus is not limited to packaging alone. We’ve conducted a carbon emissions assessment for our Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions across the whole business from the previous financial year, and our emissions reduction plan is in development for an early 2024 launch. Some of those operational emissions have already been cut by upgrading our boiler, switching to a 100% renewable electricity tariff and transitioning to LED motion sensor lighting across our sites, using 90% less energy for lighting. Furthermore, our new warehouse has been designed with a low-emissions mindset, with rigorous investigation into efficient and sustainable use of heating, drainage and surplus greenfield land, as well as potential for on-site solar electricity generation.
“On the subject of waste, we shred the waste cardboard from our warehouse to be repurposed as protective padding for the cartons we send out to customers. Overall, at least 80% of our waste has been recycled since 2017 (not including the cardboard we shred for reuse!), and this year we’re on track to record our lowest annual waste output to date. Discussions are in progress to arrange for regular collection of office plastic waste and drive our recycling rate even higher.”
Is ESG reporting (or any other kind of environmental reporting) something the business has implemented?
Will Demou, Sustainable Packaging Coordinator at Draper Tools: “As of 2022, we’ve committed to conduct an annual carbon assessment in order to monitor changes in greenhouse gas emissions each year, with a view to establish and deliver on a robust carbon reduction plan launching early 2024. The carbon assessments and reduction plan are being developed in partnership with third-party sustainability experts.”
Have you found other businesses within your supply chain are also making conscious decisions regarding sustainability?
Will Demou, Sustainable Packaging Coordinator at Draper Tools: “We’ve been driving change among our supplier base to achieve a reduction in plastic through packaging redesign, but a number of those businesses have themselves now begun to proactively suggest sustainable packaging options for new products. Additionally, packaging companies who supply the materials used in our warehouse, such as pallet wrap and cushioning airbags, are innovating by increasing the percentage of recycled material in their products to as high as 80% in some cases, which we’ve welcomed and adopted ourselves.”