Trust celebrates fourth consecutive EcoVadis Gold badge

Peripherals vendor leads by example as it vows to continue making its products more sustainable

As demand for more transparent supply chains and sustainable products continues to increase in the channel, peripherals vendor Trust has grabbed its fourth consecutive Gold accreditation from EcoVadis, marking four years in a row.

The rating means Trust stays in the top five per cent of all companies assessed by EcoVadis over the past 12 months.

Each year the criteria becomes more challenging, but this year Trust was highly commended for its strong performance across four areas: environment, labour and human rights, ethics, and sustainable procurement.

The company, which works with both B2B resellers and retailers globally and counts Logitech as its biggest competitor, was not only praised for its endorsement of global initiatives such as Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), the UN Global Compact, and the Business Social Compliance Initiative, but also for implementing documented actions and tracking performance through defined KPIs.

Dorothee de Backer, head of product & marketing at Trust, said establishing a sustainability strategy early is important.

“It is certainly a differentiator for us, and we started our journey not just because it was the right thing to do, but because we knew it was something everybody will have to do eventually. If you don’t start this early, it might be much more challenging in the future. We also had a lot of energy behind it from our people, and it has allowed us to attract more talent to the company.”

But she adds sustainability is so much more than just measuring Scope 1 emissions.

“At the start of our journey, we said it is not just about Scope 1 and 2. It is really about Scope 3, because we are selling millions of products every year,” De Backer says.

“Of course, you put a lot of effort into having a green fleet and managing your waste, but it is also about the products we sell that really make the impact, and also important things like sustainable packaging. So, we have been focusing on what we can do to make products that have less of a negative impact. It is a huge learning process.”

She adds: “This achievement would not have been possible without close collaboration with our partners in the supply chain, and it inspires us to keep doing the right thing – investing in sustainability and continuing on this exciting journey.”

De Backer also says more and more partners are beginning to see sustainability accreditations like EcoVadis as a differentiator for their customers, although there is still confusion among IT buyers around greenwashing and a need for clearer labelling and better standards across the IT industry.

In the coming year Trust has pledged to drive further improvements with goals such as reducing energy consumption, expanding carbon footprint reduction efforts and updating policies to align with evolving regulations and industry standards.