Real sustainability, partnerships and holding ourselves to account
Sustainability is the beating heart of our business—the benchmark for everything we do. At a time when there is much economic and ecological uncertainty, our impact on the planet only becomes more crucial to us and our partners. After all, real sustainability can only be achieved by working together.
At Tosca, our partnerships are more than just transactional. We choose to work with like-minded businesses and brands to reduce our environmental footprint at every turn. It is a challenge we take on together.
And yet, as the world continues to wake up to issues of global warming and the impact of consumption, many are talking the talk, while failing to walk the walk. Performative action or “greenwashing” made headlines in 2022 and it’s a conversation that’s not going anywhere. Promises are no longer good enough. People are rightfully demanding action, results and proof when it comes to sustainability.
We’ve always believed in total transparency when it comes to how we run our business and what we can still improve upon. It’s the same story with our partners. So, here’s how, together, we’re turning blue-sky thinking into practical action.
Packaging: Why it Matters
We all know we should recycle. We all know not to drop litter on the ground. But how much do we understand about the importance of sustainable packaging? Research from Eurostat shows us that in 2020, only 64% of packaging waste generated by EU member states was recycled. The rest went into landfill. And the real kick in the teeth? It’s completely avoidable. Tosca alone has eliminated over 2 million metric tons of single-use packaging from supply chains as of February 2023. Imagine the impact if suppliers, processors, and retailers all switched to reusable rather than single-use packaging?
Eliminating Waste at Every Turn, Together
Eliminating waste remains at the heart of our customer partnerships. Through our shared sustainability goals, we go on a journey with every one of our partners, working to evolve their supply chains and help them to reach their ambitious targets. In a world of eco “promises”, we make sure our partners are showing results.
Take our partner Wegmans, a major grocery retailer based in the USA, as an example. Having adopted Tosca’s packaging for its seafood produce, it has since eliminated 2 million Styrofoam cases from ending up in landfill annually.
In addition to this, for our partners and the planet, waste is not limited to the packaging itself. Cheap, single-use packaging that does not properly protect the produce inside has big repercussions. If a dozen eggs are broken every time you deliver a box, eventually the impact on costs – and our feathered friends – will begin to pile up. To put this into perspective, a leading national retail partner stated that a staggering 37 million eggs were saved from damage or discard in a single year thanks to Tosca.
We’re Nothing If Not Efficient
One of the core things we do to help our partners become more sustainable is to make their businesses more efficient.
Creating increasingly sustainable packaging is important, but it is just one chapter of the much wider distribution story. Efficiency for our partners can come in the form of:
- The introduction of high-quality reusable packaging assets
- Pooling services so you only pay for what you use
- Enhanced tracking and transparency
- Trackable and foldable containers to optimise space and reduce customer transportation
- Industry-standard data protection.
Smaller Footprints, Bigger Targets
Unlike regular packaging, Tosca’s packaging products perform around 100 trips before the end of their life. Additionally, many of our partners save up to 25% on transportation costs due to increased cube on truck with a stronger container. And while we’re proud of how far we’ve come, we don’t plan on slowing down. In fact, alongside reducing the raw materials, water, and energy used to create assets, we are on our way to increasing recycled content in assets to over 30% by 2030. In true Tosca style, we will be totally transparent with our progress toward this goal.
At a time when sustainable action is under the magnifying glass, one of the most significant things you can do as a business is to hold yourself to account. While we vow to constantly investigate new ways to become more sustainable, our biggest promise is that we will continue to hit the targets we make for ourselves and our partners.
Read more about this in our 2022 ESG Report available here.
