Wesco 2024 Sustainability Report: We Are Committed To Operating Responsibly
Wesco released its 2024 Sustainability Report, highlighting its commitment to responsible operations. The company has been integrating sustainability into its operations for over a decade, achieving most of its environmental goals set in 2016. After merging with Anixter in 2020, Wesco set new sustainability goals for 2030, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions and minimizing waste. In 2023, Wesco expanded its primary data for GHG, covering 94% of global locations, and met its waste to landfill reduction target. The company also made significant progress in safety training, with over 292,000 hours completed. Notably, Wesco aims to reduce Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions by 30% by 2030 but has only achieved a 1% reduction so far. Additionally, the Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) saw a 6% increase in 2023. Wesco's lean process management and continuous improvement principles are integral to their sustainability efforts.
- Achieved the majority of environmental goals set in 2016.
- Expanded primary data for GHG, covering 94% of global locations.
- Met the target for waste to landfill reduction.
- Provided significant value to customers through energy solutions projects.
- Installed AI safety devices in an additional 192 vehicles to promote fleet safety.
- Completed over 292,000 hours of safety training, progressing towards the 2030 goal.
- Lean process management and continuous improvement principles are integral to operations.
- Only achieved a 1% reduction in Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions from the 2021 baseline.
- Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) increased by 6% in 2023 from the 2020 baseline.
Our sustainability approach
Read the 2024 Wesco Sustainability Report here
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / June 17, 2024 / Wesco International
Sustainability Approach
Wesco is recognized as a premier distribution and supply chain services company with a history of success in meeting our customer needs and integrating sustainability into our operations. For over a decade, we have been committed to operating responsibly with our customers, suppliers, and the communities in which we operate. Our approach to sustainability is focused on minimizing our own environmental impact and empowering our partners to make sustainable choices.
We set ambitious environmental goals in 2016, and by 2021, we had achieved the majority of these goals. Following the transformational combination with Anixter in 2020, our team set new goals in 2022 for our combined organization looking toward 2030. This included reducing our greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and minimizing waste. We are constantly improving our data collection and aligning our efforts with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), ensuring our actions have a meaningful impact.
Recognizing the urgency of climate change, we conducted our first Climate Risk Assessment in 2022. This comprehensive assessment helped us understand the potential risks and opportunities associated with climate change, and we expanded our alignment with the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) to ensure transparency and accountability. Our TCFD Index can be found at the back of this report. In 2023, we began internal efforts to further align climate-risk reporting to the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation Climate Standard (IFRS S2).
Lean process management and driving continual improvement are integral to Wesco's corporate values. These principles are reinforced every day - through daily management in our warehouses, to improvement of functional programs, to kaizens (a Japanese word for continuous improvement) events conducted by cross- functional teams. In 2023, nearly 4,000 employees held at least an introductory white belt in Lean, 199 team members earned a more advanced yellow or green belt certification, and 10 employees were trained and certified as Lean Six Sigma Black Belts. In total, Yellow, Green and Black Belts conducted and reported over 800 kaizens.
The Lean principles contribute to our Wesco sustainability programs as employees practice continuous improvement. This applies to operations at our own facilities to the products and services we offer to our customers in support of their sustainability efforts and our supplier relationships as we support them in addressing their sustainability challenges and opportunities.
Report Highlights
In 2023 Wesco continued to make very good progress on our goals.
- Expanded our primary data for GHG covering
94% of global locations - Met target for waste to landfill reduction goal
- Increased transparency of our global population
- Provided significant value to customers with our energy solution projects
- Installed additional 192 vehicles with AI safety devices to promote fleet safety
2030 Goals
Goal: Reduce landfill waste intensity by
- Achieved through 2023: Met and exceeded in 2023
Goal: Provide 425,000 hours of safety training and development to our employees by 2030
- Achieved through 2023: 292,033 hours of safety training completed
Goal: Reduce absolute Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions* by
- Achieved through 2023: *
1% reduction from baseline: 83,357 MTCO2e
Goal: Achieve a
- Achieved through 2023: Met in 2022 **2023 TRIR was 0.5;
6% increase from baseline
To learn more, download the 2024 Wesco Sustainability Report here.
About This Report
Unless otherwise stated, this report covers activities, data and initiatives from our fiscal year 2023.
ESG Disclosure and Framework Alignment
The topics covered in this report include those that we have determined to be material for our business and stakeholders as noted on page 12. Wesco aligns with several ESG frameworks and disclosures in support of our commitment to transparency and our fulfillment of stakeholder needs and expectations. We leverage the following frameworks and standards to provide robust ESG information disclosure:
- Global Reporting Initiative (GRI): GRI offers a list of global standards and guidelines around sustainability reporting.
- Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB): SASB provides a comprehensive set of industry-specific disclosure topics and guidelines.
- Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD): TCFD provides disclosure recommendations on thematic ESG topics such as governance, strategy, risk management, metrics and targets to provide stakeholders with fuller information surrounding climate risks.
- CDP: Formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project, CDP is an international organization that helps companies and cities measure and disclose important environmental impact information through an annual questionnaire and rating system.
- United Nations Global Compact (UNGC): UNGC is an initiative that aims to help businesses align their strategies and work toward the U.N.'s Sustainable Development Goals.
- United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (U.N. SDGs): U.N. SDGs provide a shared set of 17 toward peace and prosperity for people and planet goals and create a call to action by all countries in a global partnership.
We also regularly engage with our investors, employees, customers, regulators, ratings agencies and others on ESG and business issues. Additional information about Wesco can be found in our public financial filings-including our annual report and proxy filings-as well as on the Security and Exchange Commission's website at www.sec.gov or on the Investors page of our website at Wesco.com.
Wesco plans to continue to report annually as we monitor, measure, and deepen our ESG initiatives and disclosures.
Wesco endorses the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are a call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity.
More information about our SDG aligned initiatives is included throughout this report.
Assurance
We did not seek third-party assurance for this report; however, we will consider doing so for future reporting. The information and data contained in this report was vetted by internal subject matter experts on the various ESG topics included in this report.
Contact Us
We appreciate and welcome feedback on our ESG initiatives and reporting and invite you to contact us directly via email at Sustainability@Wesco.com.
*Reporting and the completion status for our 2030 Scope 1 and Scope 2 reduction goals are calculated by comparing the same sources of emissions year over year across our operations in the U.S., U.K., and Canada. This method ensures a precise measure of our progress towards these goals. This year represents a period of transition as we expand our efforts to encompass a more global perspective on our emissions. For further details, please refer to the Environmental section.
**According to the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data available by NAICS code for 2022 the industry average for the applicable industry in which Wesco falls was 2.3, meaning our 2023 TRIR of 0.5 is well below the latest data in our industry.
(Source U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Wesco International on 3blmedia.com.
Contact Info:
Spokesperson: Wesco International
Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/wesco-international
Email: info@3blmedia.com
SOURCE: Wesco International
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FAQ
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