| Our commitments
Qwetch is now officially certified B Corp™ and glad to be part of this exciting community of actors, always searching to improve practises and take care of people and the planet.
After a year and a half of work, questioning and reflection, 10 months of waiting and 2 months of auditing, the verdict has finally fallen: we obtained a score of 96.3 for the B Lab™ Business Impact Assessment (BIA) which measures a company’s entire social and environmental impact.
Last articles
WE ARE NOW PART OF THE B CORP™ COMMUNITY
WE ARE NOW PART OF THE B CORP™ COMMUNITY
In September 2020, we started this ambitious project alongside all our employees, stakeholders, suppliers and customers to confirm Qwetch’s commitment at all levels: environmental, societal, human, and solidarity. We are now part of this international movement that brings together over 5,000 companies of all sizes and sectors, established in 77 different countries, which are committed to a fairer and more sustainable economy.
WHAT IS THIS B CORP™ CERTIFICATION?
WHAT IS THIS B CORP™ CERTIFICATION?
The B Corp™ certification is granted by B Lab™, an NGO which was first established in the United States and which is now worldwide. A company can receive this certification by obtaining a minimum score of 80 points (out of 200) via a free online questionnaire: the BIA (Business Impact Assessment). The BIA assesses the overall social and environmental impact of a company as a whole.
It questions key topics such as the company’s governance, its HR policy, the relationship with its customers, transparency towards the public, its contribution to society and of course its environmental impact. B Corp, short for “Benefit Corporation“, refers to a company known to have a beneficial impact on the world, while being profitable. It is the most demanding ethical and eco-responsible certification worldwide.
B Lab™ mission is to transform the global economy by being “not only to be the best in the world, but the best for the world“, a “business as a force for good“. The aim is to imagine a business model driving change with a positive, lucrative and fair impact.
WHY BECOME A B CORP™ -CERTIFIED COMPANY?
WHY BECOME A B CORP™ -CERTIFIED COMPANY?
Qwetch embarked on the B Corp™ journey to have its environmental and social commitments recognised and certified, for which the teams are committed to applying on a daily basis. Being B Corp-certified also allows a company to join a community of stimulating actors, in constant pursuit of progress in order to take care of people and the planet (well, it looks a lot like our own approach).
A company commitment is then done over the long term. It is required to renew this certification every three years and the questionnaire must be re-evaluated according to the company’s size, structure and industrial sector. It represents a company’s evolving approach to moving from a shareholder economy to a partnership economy in order to create value and radiate throughout their ecosystems.
– the minimum score to obtain the certification is 80 –
an excellent score of which we are proud, but which still leaves us room to improve!
B CORP ™, A SIGNIFICANT TURNING POINT FOR QWETCH
THE B CORP EXPERIENCE, A FACTOR OF EVOLUTION AND ACTION
THE B CORP EXPERIENCE, A FACTOR OF EVOLUTION AND ACTION
Even if the approach of protecting people and the planet has been at the heart of Qwetch’s approach since the beginning, engaging in the B Corp™ certification has made us grow! Applying and responding to the BIA survey allowed us to draw up a list of our actions, to identify where we still need to improve and what we were already doing – and, in the end, there were many that were not really formalised. Indeed, 12 years ago, Qwetch was a very small company made up of only four passionate people. Structuring the company was not a priority, and came well after the values to which we were committed.
Applying for the B Corp™ certification coincided with the company’s desire to find a new structure and proved to be a real driving force, pushing us to go even further in our social and environmental efforts. It has put us on the path to an even more committed CSR policy. We want to improve and continue taking care of people and the planet.
Belonging to the B Corp™ community is also a source of motivation. Among companies of various sizes and business models, all committed to the same direction, precursors and neophytes work alongside to take action.
Once we had filled in the BIA, we reorganised the company and redesigned its operating model.
We calculated our Carbon Footprint, with the help of Sirsa, and realised that a circular strategy was necessary to extend our products’ durability. Although we have already been focused on producing the most sustainable and safe containers possible for the past ten years, we had not really structured these approaches. Used to our way of doing things, eco-design now systematically guides our decisions when creating new products and developing the company.
On the philanthropic level, we have redesigned our solidarity programme by focusing more on our actions and measuring their impacts. “Restoring damaged ecosystems and supporting initiatives to reduce waste to ban single-use and focus on reusable” is now our only philanthropic course of action.
We have added a statement in our legal statutes mentioning that we “intend to generate a positive and significant social and environmental impact” and that we consider “the social, societal and environmental consequences” in each of our decisions.
We have formalised a code of conduct for our suppliers and historical partners, designed on the basis of the BSCI and BEPI programmes of which we have been members since 2018. We are now even more involved in these social and environmental audit programmes to continue to move towards fairer trade with our stakeholders.
Internally, there have also been many changes: we have structured our HR policy in order to offer better support to our employees (creation of an integration process, writing of an employee arrival guide, etc.); a waste sorting system has been set up and an awareness campaign on good practices has been carried out; an internal code of ethics has been drafted and is now shared with new team members.
All this has taken a year and a half! As an SME, in the midst of a health crisis, we can say that we’ve accomplished a lot. We managed to carry out this great challenge thanks to our employees as well as all our stakeholders who now support us on our journey. Thank you!
NEXT STEPS
A B Corp™ certified company is on a never-ending journey to go even further in its approach to reach a positive impact. The next steps for Qwetch are multiple and promising. We want to:
Continue to set up structural projects that have emerged as a result of the BIA such as implementing a virtuous circle to reduce the impact of our products and operations on the planet; completing a plan to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions with clear and quantified objectives; scaling up our philanthropic action with associations and all types of audiences. Last but not least, we started off 2022 on a high note by adding two new NGOs (Terre d’Abeilles and Reef Check France) to our shared product programme, and co-created a comprehensive educational project around the topic of waste for secondary school eco-delegates in the French region PACA, alongside the GoodPlanet Foundation and the eco-friendly brand 900.care.
Continue to improve our internal organisation on a daily basis through inclusivity, progress, transparency and by advocating for a society that is more respectful of people and the planet.
Keep our B Corp™ certification by re-auditing through B Lab™ in order to maintain our status, and this, according to even more demanding criteria than for this first certification.
Last but not least, we intend to get involved in the B Corp™ community, contribute to it, and also learn from the progress of others, in order to promote responsible businesses. The B Corp™ movement is based on a collective momentum and recognises that all economic actors are interdependent, leaving no other choice than to build a new model together!
With this B Corp™ certification, Qwetch is more than ever committed to honouring its vision to take care of people and the planet. In the end, everyone is part of the equation: customers, businesses, citizens, etc.
This certification is just the beginning of an exciting adventure of constant evolution to move towards a more sustainable world.
@qwetch.fr
