Independent Builders Merchants Group is committed to best practice in Environmental Social Governance. Here are just a few things we are doing to limit our impact on the environment, have a positive impact on the communities in which we operate and ensure our governance exceeds expectations. We have also listed some commitments for the future.
At IBMG we have a responsibility to our customers, workers and stakeholders to uphold the best practises of governance, social wellbeing and environmental care. By considering Environmental Social Governance (ESG) factors, IBMG aims to continually evaluate and improve our ESG performance whilst minimising the group’s risk from uncertainties such as climate change. This work will not only help to protect our business and make it resilient and sustainable for the future; it will ensure that we aim to be inclusive and supportive of our colleagues every single day.
As we handle, sell and move heavy and sometimes hazardous materials every day, Health and Safety have to be at the heart of all our actions. IBMG will continue to have rigorous Health and Safety checks, training for our staff and policy reviews to keep our colleagues and customers as safe as possible.
IBMG recognises the importance of the climate crisis and we feel that we have a responsibility to do our part to minimise environmental damage. We intend to keep our actions aligned with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 12 to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns. Our group strives to evaluate our actions and find solutions where possible such as improving our waste management and becoming more energy efficient.
IBMG wants to be the best company to work for. This means we have to take responsibility for our staff and support them when needed. We aim to create an inclusive environment that thrives from its diversity, colleague’s ideas and wellbeing.
It is important that we, at IMBG, uphold good standards of corporate governance to reduce risk, keep communication clear and transparent and fulfil our group’s commitment to our stakeholders. IMBG seeks to carry out the best practices of corporate governance to make us the best company to work with and for.
We recognise that challenges such as these cannot be immediately answered. More information on our progress regarding ESG related issues can be found on our website.
The team at Stamco timber have recently installed water butts on-site to collect rainwater to be used in their wood treatment plant. As freshwater is a precious resource in the UK, strained by temperature rises due to climate change, collecting rainwater is one-way IBMG is trying to have a sustainable impact. Main’s water needs a large amount of energy to be pumped from its source to site. By recycling rainwater, that otherwise wouldn’t be collected for use, we are reducing our energy consumption and our carbon footprint. Excitingly, Stamco timber is investigating the possibility of solely using recycled rainwater in its water treatment and we are excited to share our future findings with you.
IBMG is trialling larger plastic and cardboard compression machines in our branches. By compressing our waste on-site, fewer vehicles will be needed to transport our recyclable waste to the correct facilities. This will reduce our carbon footprint by using fewer vehicles to transport more recyclable waste. Plus, watching the materials get crushed is really cool.