Reconomy today releases its Annual Sustainability Report (“The Report”), which is aligned with internationally recognised GRI reporting standards. The Report recognises substantial progress against Reconomy’s stated targets and, in many cases, it has exceeded those aims.
£123m was spent on procuring from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in 2022, which contributed to an overall total of £509m in local, social and economic value created since 2018. Reconomy has also funded 86 apprenticeships and 60 internships and ring fenced roles for care leavers and hard-to-reach groups.
On its environmental commitments, Reconomy now diverts 97.5% (up from 96% in 2021) of the waste managed through its operations away from landfill. It has also reduced its full-scope carbon intensity by 13% representing positive progress given its growth in operations and 67% of its electricity comes from renewable sources meaning the business is on track to use 100% of its electricity through renewable sources by 2028.
Reconomy’s efforts were also recognised via several industry awards. The highlights of this included an Ecovadis Gold Rating, receiving the top award in environmental, social and governance management at the 2022 British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association Summit and the prestigious CIO 100 Award.
The Report comes amid strong commercial performance from Reconomy achieving record annual turnover of over £1 billion – more than doubling turnover in the past two years (£490m in 2020). Reconomy completed two acquisitions in 2022 – RENE AG and GEE Services – and has successfully added three more in 2023 so far – Combineering, UK Waste Solutions Limited and Ecofficiency Limited. Reconomy has expanded its services into 11 new markets, which are provided from hubs within 27 countries to 7,160 customers across 80 countries worldwide.
Guy Wakeley, Group Chief Executive of Reconomy, said: “Our second group-wide Annual Sustainability Report demonstrates strong progress against our stated objectives and we are pleased to announce the successful completion of many of these goals. These achievements align with excellent commercial performance from the business as the combination of growing our business organically and via strategic acquisitions means our revenue exceeded £1 billion in 2022.
“Our strong commercial progress and excellent international prospects are allowing us to pursue our purpose of contributing to a more sustainable world by conserving finite resources. We do this because many economies consume finite, virgin resources at an unsustainable rate.
“We are in the business of closing the ‘circularity gaps’ in ways that help decouple economic prosperity from resource consumption. Part of our business is to enable others to take responsibility for their impacts in line with their sustainability strategies. We help customers achieve their efficiencies and targets by integrating processes for better visibility, control and sustainability impact. In short, we help enable the circular economy around the world through our technology and our people. This makes us – and our customers – not only investible, but also more efficient and responsible.
“This report demonstrates that we continue to strive for the very highest standards in our own business. We are making substantive headway against our sustainability targets and I look forward to another year of progress toward our vision of a waste-free world.”
The full Report can be found here: