The ‘S’ word has become a hollow buzzword, says Clemens Berger, chairman of the Board of Managing Directors, Louisenthal. Now is the time to turn rhetoric into real action.
Sustainability has saturated every corner of corporate communications. While its importance cannot be overstated, the incessant media chatter around the concept of risks is becoming background noise.
Meanwhile, many companies boast about their ‘green’ credentials but often do little more than slap a recycled label on their products. Sustainability has become a hollow buzzword, a convenient cover for inaction, but it’s time to rethink how sustainability is communicated, focusing less on the word itself and the tangible results of our actions.
Effective sustainability is driven by effective business practices. If companies integrate tangible sustainable practices into their business strategies, they’re ideally positioned to meet regulatory requirements, attract conscious consumers and achieve long-term profitability.
In a wider sense, sustainability helps to address major global issues such as climate change, resource depletion and social inequality.
Less talk and more engagement
The more we talk about sustainability, the less people seem to listen. We’ve hit ‘peak sustainability’ – a saturation point where constant, overused messaging has led to disengagement and growing scepticism instead of real action.
The more the “S” word is thrown around, the more people will tune out. To cut through all the noise, sustainability needs to resonate again by shifting the rhetoric to proven and measurable impact. Transparency and genuine progress must be prioritised in all communications if trust and engagement are going to be rebuilt with stakeholders.
More consumers have become aware of the tendency for companies to partake in “greenwashing”, where they make superficial or misleading claims about the environmental benefits of a project or solution. Environmental, social and governance (ESG) data firm RepRisk last year discovered that banks and financial services companies were responsible for a 70% increase in greenwashing instances.
Setting the standard
Sustainability is a tough business goal, and it should be recognised one as well as an important ethical consideration. There are several tangible initiatives that companies can incorporate to truly further their sustainability aims, from utilising more sustainable materials to integrating innovative practices into production processes. Take for example the currency industry and the green production of banknotes. A combination of cotton and FSC-certified wood pulp can significantly reduce the carbon footprint associated with every step of banknote production.
By designing notes to be more durable, they remain usable for longer, reducing the environmental impact associated with frequent replacements. Innovative substrates that combine a cotton core with thin protective foil layers are now being applied to notes to help prevent damage and keep them in circulation.
Of course, every banknote has a lifespan, even if it can be extended, therefore it’s as important to ensure that a sustainable end-of-life solution is in place. Traditional banknotes, primarily made from cotton noils, pose environmental challenges by being difficult to recycle.
However, innovative approaches to banknote fibre extraction means that cotton-based substrates can be efficiently recycled without additional processes.
This contributes to a more sustainable cash cycle. There’s even the potential for extracted fibres to 100% recycled into new paper products, such as paper bags or packaging solutions for the logistics industry, creating a closed loop recycling system.
Sustainability efforts are not about saving the world in one stroke but making strides towards a common goal. Companies all have a responsibility in their respective sectors to make a difference and should be focused on making smaller steps with bigger impacts.
Turning theory into practice
Talking about green practices is the easy part. Implementing them and seeing real, measurable results is the challenge that truly matters. Sustainability efforts can often become entangled in ambitious goals and theoretical approaches, leading to a gap between intentions and practical outcomes.
To effectively integrate sustainability into a business, it’s essential to consider how it influences operational efficiency, strategic and market growth, and recognise it as differentiator that helps maintain relevance in product specifications.
We need to move beyond outdated views that treat the environment solely as a resource to be exploited and a place to discard waste. True sustainability encompasses the entire system. To achieve widespread market acceptance, substantial changes need to be embraced and a holistic perspective needs to be adopted.
The circular economy can be demystified by discussing it openly. At its core, it’s about designing products and processes to keep resources in circulation for as long as possible, extracting maximum value and then recovering and regenerating materials at the end of their lifecycle.
Sustainability is more than just a buzzword. It’s a fundamental aspect of how businesses operate and innovate. By moving away from vague promises and focusing on measurable outcomes, companies can build genuine trust and make a real impact.
This means taking concrete steps that reduce environmental harm and also enhance business resilience and competitiveness, not in isolation but as a market as a whole. By embracing this holistic approach and prioritising action, businesses can lead the way in creating a more sustainable future.
