The Vita Group has achieved a gold medal from EcoVadis, the world’s most trusted provider of business sustainability ratings, further bolstering the flexible PU foam manufacturer’s environmental credentials.
This tremendous accolade builds upon the Silver award received in 2021, meaning The Vita Group is now ranked among the top 3% of global companies assessed on sustainability performance by Ecovadis.
This latest achievement caps a year that has seen Vita confirm its status as an environmental leader. In the year, Vita has launched Enhancing Everyday Life, its inaugural sustainability report and became the first flexible PU foam manufacturer in the world to set science-based emissions reduction targets in line with the level of decarbonisation required to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement – to limit global warming to well-below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C.
Additionally, Natalie Watson has been appointed as Vita’s head of sustainability, focusing on further developing The Vita Group’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategy, implementing the plans outlined in Enhancing Everyday Life.
This will entail supporting key greenhouse gas reduction initiatives and supporting the commercialisation of Vita’s sustainability-focussed product ranges.
Ecovadis rates and continually monitors companies’ CSR management and progress while offering tools to drive improvement. It validates corporate adherence to 21 recognized CSR criteria which follow verifiable international CSR standards (the Global Compact Principles, the International Labour Organization conventions, the Global Reporting Initiative standard, and ISO 2600).
Natalie Watson said: “This EcoVadis Gold Medal is a testament to our company’s commitment to social and environmentally responsible business practices, and caps what has been a landmark year for Vita. Throughout our long history, we have seen it as our duty to break new ground in sustainable technologies within the flexible PU foam manufacturing industry, in 2023 and beyond we will continue to explore new ways we can innovate to provide solutions that deliver for our value chain while helping to protect the planet for future generations. Scoring in the 97th percentile of assessed organisations worldwide reassures us that we are on the right path. We know we have far to go but this award gives us momentum to make further progress on our sustainability journey.”
Ian Robb The Vita Group’s CEO said: “I would like to congratulate everyone at Vita for working towards this fantastic achievement. The Ecovadis Gold award would not have been possible without the support and dedication of a great many of our colleagues across all our 38 European sites, and everyone who is associated with The Vita Group should be immensely proud of our sustainability journey. We have more to do in 2023 and we’re working hard to achieve Platinum in the coming years.
