Leading the Charge for a De-carbonised Waste Sector

In its recently published Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Strategy, entitled “Rethinking our Future”, waste management company, RiverRidge, set itself a bold objective to reduce its CO2 emissions by 50% by the end of the decade and ultimately de-carbonise its operations.

With transport by far the largest carbon contributor in the waste sector, it was an obvious place to target. To demonstrate its commitment in this area, RiverRidge recently took delivery of its first Bio-Gas Vehicle which runs entirely on fuel derived from food waste. In time, the company will produce all of its own Biofuel for its fleet of vehicles from a new Anaerobic Digestion facility, which is planned as part of its overall innovative waste operations.

It is just one of the many steps that the company is taking on its ESG journey and, according to CEO Brett Ross, it demonstrates the passion for innovation and commitment to sustainability that sets RiverRidge apart from other waste management providers.

RiverRidge’s ESG Strategy – the first of its kind for a waste management company in Northern Ireland – builds on the company’s vision “to treat waste as a valuable resource to ensure a positive outcome for our planet”. It has three core principles and a number of ambitions, namely;

• Leading the way as a responsible and sustainable business, which includes an ambition to improve the supply chain and approach to diversity and inclusion
• Looking after our people, customers and communities, which includes an ambition to become an employer of choice and to double its charitable giving as well as creating a new environmental trust; and
• Protecting the environment and driving the circular economy through innovation, which includes an ambition to reduce carbon emissions by 50% and the transition of 75% of the fleet to renewable power by 2030.

The formalisation of its ESG strategy ‘Rethinking our Future’ will see the company publicly report annually on its performance against these core principles and ambitions, and hold itself fully accountable for delivery – not just to its board and shareholders – but to all its stakeholders, including customers, employees and communities.

Brett Ross continued “In a short period of time, we have seen so much change in the places where we work and live. That pace of change has been fast and is being driven to a large extent by the younger generation, who are challenging the status quo and demanding positive changes throughout our society that will shape all our futures.”

“We not only want to recognise this change but embrace it. As a result, we have published ‘Rethinking Our Future’, a dynamic and evolving ESG strategy, which sees RiverRidge taking a long-term view of our business, our place within the community and the planet, as well as looking after our people.”

RiverRidge is already Northern Ireland’s leading waste management company – operating some of the most sophisticated facilities in the UK across five sites and employing almost 300 people from the local community.  As a company, it has always focussed on innovation to transform the approach to waste from one of disposal to recycling to ensure Northern Ireland achieves its carbon targets.  The ESG strategy undertaken and embraced by RiverRidge takes this leadership position to a new level and ensures that the company is progressing towards a fully sustainable future.

Brett Ross concluded; “As the leading company in our sector in Northern Ireland, we want to show leadership in all forms of sustainability. We want to be more accountable and have embedded sustainable work practices. This is not an unusual place for RiverRidge to be – we are innovators, adaptors and disruptors – the emergence of ESG is no different. With our ‘Rethinking our Future’ strategy, we are building today what our stakeholders will demand tomorrow.”