Sustainable hygiene solutions

As humans continue to impact our planet, global warming and urbanisation are combining to create environments where bacteria can breed and spread more easily, increasing risks to public health and business operations.

At Initial, we help businesses to provide hygienic environments that support the health and wellbeing of their people and customers. As one of the world’s leading hygiene services providers, we know we have a responsibility to take action across our business, help our customers deliver on their own sustainability goals with confidence and drive change towards more eco-friendly solutions in our industry.

By innovating across our supply chain and product pipelines, we deliver more environmentally-friendly hygiene solutions to more businesses globally. We’re taking the necessary steps – such as recycling about 4.2 tonnes of plastic scraps in 2023 – to help our customers tackle their environmental impact while working towards our own goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2040.

This is our Mission Sustainable, and we plan to achieve it with four key pledges.

1. Sustainable solutions from their beginning to end

We’ve got sustainability firmly in mind in our product development process. That’s why we’re using more sustainable materials from the very beginning of product life and across entire product life cycles.

From consumables containing no harmful chemicals or microplastics to products with sustainability accreditation, we’re doing our bit to create hygiene solutions that benefit the environment as well as our customers.

2. Live, breathe and act sustainably

We’re analysing all aspects of our operations, workplaces and supply chain, working with our people to build a culture of sustainability throughout the company and ensure we’re proactively taking measures to reduce our environmental impact.

Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do. Whether it’s transitioning to electric vehicles across our fleet, switching to green energy tariffs across our properties or choosing to source from sustainable suppliers, we’re taking steps to deliver on our net-zero commitments. 

3. Reduce, reuse, recycle

Our aim is to measure and reduce the waste we generate as a business to zero landfill and incineration while increasing the use of recycled materials in our products and across our operations.

We’re committed to reducing the environmental impact of our waste. Our goal is for 100% of our waste material to be reused, recycled or repurposed for conversion into energy by 2035.

4. Partner to preserve the planet

We build long-term partnerships that support greater biodiversity and benefit the environment for future generations.

As leaders in global hygiene facilities, we recognise the importance of acting responsibly and consider the ethical, environmental and social impact of our ongoing partnerships. Moving forward, we’ve pledged to only work with suppliers that align with our environmental values and will continue to establish strong relationships with environmental charities and communities across the world to support their work in fighting the climate crisis.