Sustainability is a subject quickly coming to the forefront of political debates, business decisions and day-to-day life around the world. At Seetec, this drive to be greener has become integral to our day-to-day operations and now plays a fundamental role in our decision-making process as a business.

Heading-up our green initiative is Group Health, Safety and Environment Manager Michael (Mick) Low, who has spearheaded the movement towards a greener future for the Group.

When defining sustainability, Mick said “Sustainability is being able to maintain an activity or to progress, without negative impacts, financially, environmentally or to other people.”

On the importance of sustainability, he said “The best way to emphasise the importance of sustainability is to take an example of just one simple resource, paper. Paper is mainly sourced by cutting down trees, leading to less paper and raising prices – not to mention the depletion of a natural resource! Finding a sustainable alternative, such as recycling wastepaper into pulp, is the best method to counter these negative effects and ultimately help to build a greener future for ourselves and our communities.”

Being aware of its importance is not enough, and on the proactive steps the Seetec Group has taken to be more sustainable, Mick said “The first step was to list Seetec’s activities, identify the resources used and the environmental impact they had. From there we could make changes to reduce that impact.

“One great example is our paper consumption. At this very moment, we have reduced our overall paper consumption by over 50% in a three-year period and are successfully recycling 100% of our paper waste into pulp – becoming brand new paper ready for use.

“We have gone through this exact process with several other resources across the Seetec Group, reducing consumption and increasing recycling across the board.”

But as the world’s sustainability efforts and environmental impact is brought into question, at Seetec we’re committed to playing our part in building a greener and more sustainable future for the individuals and communities that we serve. Mick said, “We’re now in the process of reviewing our electricity provision and are aiming to move to completely renewable supplies like solar and wind.

“We’re also keeping our finger on the pulse for any emerging technologies and initiatives that we can introduce into the business to help us improve our sustainability further.”