We are proud to announce that we have been recognised for our sustainable business practices with a Bronze Medal from EcoVadis, the global standard for rating operational sustainability performance.

A key part of the Vernacare mission is to reduce our impact on the environment, and sustainability is at the forefront of our decisions when developing products and improving processes.

Earning an overall score of 57 from the EcoVadis assessments has been a great achievement for the business, putting us in the top 69% of all businesses who completed the assessment globally. Over 100,000 companies have completed the assessment so far. Our key performance areas included raising employee awareness of sustainability, reducing internal waste through material reuse, recovery, or repurposing, and the use of recovered, eco-friendly, or bio-based input materials.

Our Net Zero reporting and employee health and safety risk assessments were also highlighted as strengths.

We're passionate about providing safe, effective products that not only protect patients and healthcare workers, but also protect our planet, and our commitment to becoming as sustainable as possible doesn't stop with a Bronze Medal.

Simon Hogg, Group Innovations Director, commented, "Vernacare has a long history of sustainable, ethical manufacturing and is passionate about continuing this legacy. We all work hard to minimise our impact on the environment, whilst maintaining a focus on infection prevention. To gain bronze status on our first attempt is a great recognition of how we already care, and this is a great starting point to strive for a better rating over the next year."

Our Environmental, Social, and Governance team have already begun work to guide us up to the next step of a Silver Medal in our next assessment, with our ESG plans in place to accelerate us through the ranks as we continue to reduce our environmental impact and advance our legacy as pioneers in sustainable manufacturing. Over the next three years, we will reduce our carbon emissions by 17% - which is the equivalent of 14,184 carbon tonnes.

We're not only striving to improve our own sustainability and environmental impact, but we also want to encourage our industry partners to join us on the journey. We recently hosted a CPD-accredited webinar sharing knowledge on climate change, and what we need to do both as businesses and individuals to reduce our carbon footprint. You can catch up on this for free on the Vernacare Academy.