Prizadevanje za trajnostni razvoj ni le moralna odgovornost, ampak tudi ključ do dolgoročnega uspeha podjetij. V času podnebne krize in vse večjih pričakovanj kupcev in investitorjev morajo podjetja z aktivnimi ukrepi zmanjšati svoj vpliv na okolje. Prehod v krožno gospodarstvo (Circular Economy) postaja prednostna naloga, ki ponuja številne poslovne prednosti, kot so znižanje stroškov, izboljšan ugled in večja inovativnost.

…. the vast majority of companies want to implement sustainable initiatives or have already started the process? Such declarations were made by between 71.1 and 84.9% of managers representing medium and large companies from 6 European countries.

Increased public awareness of lifestyles and consumption patterns is leading businesses, institutions and public authorities to recognise the need for an inevitable shift in strategy and direction.

Process efficiency is the main driver for implementing sustainable initiatives. This is followed by communication considerations and the company’s image in the eyes of stakeholders. Taking these motivations into account, the next part of the analysis focused on a group of companies selected for the type of sustainable initiatives undertaken. To this end, an in-depth analysis was carried out, which showed that the most common practice is to verify the environmental compliance of their operations (72% of companies).

Reducing the environmental impact of a company’s activities in this way is a valuable competitive advantage. Of the actions taken to achieve this goal, respondents most often declared reducing emissions, optimising waste management, avoiding plastic, eco-designing packaging and developing an effective ESG strategy.