In recent years, quite a few of our clients have moved their business towards being a B-Corp. But what exactly is a B-Corp, what are the reasons for becoming one, and ultimately how can Law Print help you reach your environmental goals with more sustainable packaging?
Certified B Corporations are a new kind of approach for businesses that balances profit and purpose. They are legally required to consider the impact of their decisions on their workers, customers, suppliers, community, and the environment. This is known as a community of leaders, driving a global movement of people using business as a force for good.
B-Corp Certification proves your business is meeting the highest standards of verified performance from your supply chain and input materials to your charitable giving and employee benefits.
B-Corp Certification doesn’t just prove where your company excels now—it commits you to consider stakeholder impact for the long term by building it into your company’s legal structure.
If you’re wondering how a B-Corp differs from the usual company set up—the Directors of a UK limited company have a duty to act in the best interests of its shareholders—and we can assume that this means delivering a financial return. This is a single focus goal, without reference to any other stakeholders involved with, or impacted by, that business.
The B-Corp way adjusts this position so that employees, suppliers, the environment and the wider community also get a look in alongside shareholders.
There is a widely held view, growing in momentum, that businesses need to play their role in driving societal and environmental change—rather than leaving that to government and charities—B-Corp’s requirements cement this viewpoint into a measurable certification. B-Corp’s leaders believe that sustainable business is better business and that they can use their business as a force for good.
Which companies can apply for B-Corp certification?
It is sector agnostic—you don’t need to produce a product or service that is classed as sustainable in its own right. It is about how the business is run, how the team is treated, how it uses energy and treats the environment.
If your company has not been trading for 12 months, the full B-Corp certification is not an option. There is instead a pending B-Corp status available to startups and new businesses.
The journey to B-Corp starts by registering and going through a very long and thought-provoking set of questions with multiple choice answers.
It analyses matters including your policies, operations, treatment of staff and environmental impact and scores your responses out of a total of 300.
The questions make you think about things that you may not have previously articulated. It drives you to form opinions about how your business should be run and helps you to set the groundwork about how things will be.
As a start-up or new business, why go for pending B-Corp status?
Completing the Impact Assessment is helpful in prompting the thinking upfront about critical foundations for your business. Outwardly, the status sends a clear message to funders, employees and suppliers about your business. It also brings commercial benefits. The high bar for the treatment of staff is likely to attract top talent.
It is also expected to draw in more customers—whom we know are increasingly buying from companies that they believe behave ethically. They want, rightly so, to see action from the companies that profit from their spending.
How can Law Print help you with the right packaging?
As a responsible packaging supplier, we have always actively engaged with our customers to offer them the right packaging to meet their needs—by selecting the best pack formats, optimising materials, never over spec’ing and offering features such as zippers, spouts or valves when these are having a positive impact on business efficiency and productivity, and adding true values to their consumers in terms of reducing food waste and improving convenience, for example.
Since launching our Ready2Recycle range and continuously improving our offering of mono material packaging, we also help business to go a step further by transitioning to recyclable solutions and moving towards an even more sustainable business—supporting their environmental goals.
If like them, you want to re-think your current packaging and see how Law Print can be your new supplying partner, get in touch now with our dedicated sales team for a no obligation review of your needs and a quotation on our innovative solutions.
If your brand is looking to invest in quality packaging, we will guide you through the entire print process. Providing recommendations along the way to improve efficiency, reduce costs and add untold value to the end product.
