SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGY
REIMAGINING A BRIGHTER FUTURE
Our vision is to be the brand that inspires you to reimagine bathrooms
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the SONAS Sustainability Strategy
2024-2026 which marks an important milestone in our sustainability journey. This strategy outlines the progress we have made to date, and our ambitions for the next three years to continue to improve our ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) performance.
Since our company was founded by John Usher in 1978, the environment we operate in has changed significantly and our business model has evolved to meet those changes. One thing that remains constant is that we pride ourselves on being “good people to do business with”. Today, this means putting sustainability at the centre of all that we do.
In this, the first SONAS Sustainability Strategy, you will discover more about our current activities such as our range of water-saving bathroom products, our partnership with Habitat for Humanity reducing waste, and the strides we have made in our operations to improve our energy efficiency.
As Ireland’s leading bathroom brand, SONAS are also committed to becoming a leading company when it comes to our ESG performance. This is why we are sharing the ambitious goals we have set for ourselves. Our Sustainability Strategy for 2024-2026 is aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and is built around four core pillars: Operating Environment, Supporting People, Responsible Production, and Integrated Sustainability. This comprehensive approach ensures that sustainability is integrated into every aspect of our business operations.
Best regards,
Richard Sloan
CEO SONAS Bathrooms
MEASURING SUSTAINABILITY
Sustainability is a board term that refers to our ability to meet present business needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. To measure how sustainably an organisation is operating, ESG tools provide practical guidelines for measuring this progress.
ESG is a framework that helps stakeholders understand how an organisation is managing risks and opportunities related to environmental, social and governance criteria. It breaks down the broad and often abstract concept of sustainability into tangible, measurable actions.
Given the enormity of global sustainability challenges, no single entity can resolve this. At SONAS, as leaders in the bathroom industry, we are sharing our objectives and our key metrics to measure ESG Performance.
WHAT SUSTAINABILITY MEANS TO SONAS
At SONAS, sustainability is one of our core values. Therefore, improving our ESG performance means improving the overall sustainability of the company across the three elements of environmental, economic, and social sustainability.
Environmental sustainability is focused on having a positive impact on the planet, through our manufacturing, our operations, and our products.
Economic sustainability aims to create a balance between economic growth, resource efficiency, social equity and financial stability. This is supported by strong board engagement and compliance to support an ethical culture of governance.
Social sustainability is all about the wellbeing of people and communities. With support being another core value, we place high value on our relationships with staff, customers, and suppliers.
As sustainability is a core value, this drives us to find new ways to achieve our ambitious targets to improve our ESG performance. We will share our progress not only to demonstrate our commitment to sustainability, but also to help other businesses on their path to sustainability.
SONAS CORE
Our Sustainability Strategy is built on four core pillars:
1. Operating Environment
SONAS SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGY 2024-2026
2. Supporting People
3. Responsible Production
4. Integrated Sustainability
The first phase of developing the SONAS Sustainability Strategy involved a detailed evaluation of our current ESG performance across all operations, with the support of external sustainability advisors, Sustainable Advantage. This company-wide materiality assessment evaluated 80 topics deemed relevant to SONAS, across all aspects of the business. Our ESG materiality assessment informs our Sustainability Strategy and ensures we stay abreast of emerging themes and legislative requirements. While it was noted that SONAS has already made progress in overall ESG performance, it also identified priority areas for progress.
We have aligned our Sustainability Strategy to contribute to eight specific UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s). These SDG’s will be referred to throughout this sustainability strategy showcasing where we have aligned our goals to the UN SDG’s.
To achieve our objective to become a recognised industry leader in ESG performance, we have built this strategy around four pillars:
1. Operating Environment
2. Supporting People
3. Responsible Production
4. Integrated Sustainability
UN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
World leaders came together in 2015 and made a historic promise to secure the rights and well-being of everyone on a healthy, thriving planet when they adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
The Agenda remains the world’s roadmap for ending poverty, protecting the planet and tackling inequalities. The 17 SDGs, the cornerstone of the Agenda, offer the most practical and effective pathway to tackle the causes of violent conflict, human rights abuses, climate change and environmental degradation and aim to ensure that no one will be left behind.
As an integral part of our Sustainability Strategy, we are committed to making a positive contribution to these global goals. We have identified eight goals where we can make a significant impact through our actions.
To ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.
To ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.
To make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
To ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
To promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.
To ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.
To build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation.
To strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development.
1. OPERATING ENVIRONMENT
As our business continues to grow, SONAS will ensure that we continue to adopt sustainable practices in our operational processes to minimise environmental impact and enhance efficiencies.
Operating Environment covers topics such as energy management, recycling, packaging, transport, water consumption, carbon emissions, and environmental training.
UN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
PROGRESS TO DATE
SONAS HQ consumes ~437,000kwh per annum
286 solar panels installed in 2023 supply 25% of yearly energy
100% renewable energy mix supplied by Certified member of
2,449 1,444
KEY INITIATIVES 2024-2026:
Carbon Reporting: Tracking, calculating and monitoring greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of Scope 1*, Scope 2** and employee commuting, business travel and waste. SONAS will begin to track upstream emissions around logistics of products.
Water Conservation: During 2024 all bathroom facilities in SONAS HQ will be upgraded with watersaving SONAS product, targeting a reduction in water consumption to less than 250m3 in 2025, from 491m3 in 2023, representing a 50% reduction. .
Transport Emissions: Emissions related to the transportation of products from our suppliers, and delivery to our customers will be measured. All business related travel will also be calculated with measurement processes adopted to calculate the impact on emissions. Actions to reduce transport emissions will be identified and considered.
*Scope 1 emissions are direct emissions from owned or controlled sources. 2023 14.9 tCO2e.
**Scope 2 emissions are indirect emissions from the generation of purchased energy. As our electricity is 100% renewable energy mix supplied by Pinergy, our Scope 2 Emissions are Zero.
2. SUPPORTING PEOPLE
Supporting People is the Social element of ESG and is all about People – which includes our employees, our business partners, and the wider community.
At SONAS it all starts with people. Our people are the bathroom experts that deliver our SONAS brand promise to imagine more for your bathroom. Every member of Team SONAS plays an important role in delivering award-winning customer service to our customers.
In turn our people support our business partners and the wider community through our charity and community support initiatives.
UN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
PROGRESS TO DATE
In keeping with our ethos of supporting local communities, SONAS supports a number of charities and sporting organisations throughout the year such as NOVAS, and Laura Lynn. Here is a overview of our four primary sponsorships, supporting charity, sports and design.
Habitat for Humanity is a charity SONAS supports by donating end-of-line products to their social enterprise, Habitat ReStore, helping families to access low-cost home improvement materials. Visit habitatireland.org/joinus/restore to find out more.
Soccer Transplant Team Ireland, proudly sponsored by SONAS, is a team of remarkable individuals who emphasise the positive power of organ donation. Visit soccertransplantteamireland.ie to find out more.
Technological University Dublin, SONAS
Bathrooms and the Interiors Association run the annual design competition supporting the next generation of designers. Third year Interior Design students are invited to design a luxury hotel bathroom to compete for the title of, SONAS
Bathroom Design of the Year.
Cork City FC Men’s and Women’s teams are proudly supported by SONAS. It’s evident that our values at SONAS of support and ambition are perfectly aligned with those of the club. Together with Cork City, we are committed to supporting the Club in driving success.
KEY INITIATIVES 2024-2026:
Employees: At SONAS, we recognise the exceptional value of our people. To support our team we aim to foster a healthy and thriving work environment, where safety, well-being and professional development are prioritised.
We aim to enhance our current Training & Development programmes and report on increase in hours spent training. By introducing new training programmes. Leadership development programmes will be evolved to support individual development training goals.
Employee engagement and well-being will be actively monitored through an annual employee engagement survey, and introduction of a well policy and wellbeing programme.
Through these measures SONAS will continue to invest in our team, and empower them with the skills and resources required to thrive both professionally and as individuals.
Customers: Putting the customer at the heart of our operations is key to the SONAS approach. We are committed to ensuring we are easy for customers to do business with.
We will establish a formal process for tracking customer engagement and satisfaction which will enable us to improve the service we provide. Ongoing market research will continue to contribute to this.
In our communications, there will be a focus on promoting environmentally friendly products and ESG commitments to our retailer partners, homeowners and specifiers to encourage them to be more aware of the choices that are available.
Community Partnerships: SONAS will continue established partnerships with charity, sports and education organisations to support the wider community. Opportunities will be explored for more employees to be directly involved in these partnerships through participation or volunteering.
3. RESPONSIBLE PRODUCTION
Responsible production focuses on improving environmental performance of products, ethical manufacturing in our supply chain, and the packaging and transport of goods.
SONAS will continue to lead in water-saving bathroom solutions, and will review our sourcing, packaging and logistics to identify opportunities to further reduce our impact on the environment.
UN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
PROGRESS TO DATE
Water-Saving Bathrooms: The single biggest impact SONAS can have is in improving the environmental performance of the products we design and manufacture. SONAS is a voluntary member of the Unified Water Label and launched a range of water-saving products in 2023. Water networks face serious challenges and we aim to do our part by supplying products that reduce water consumption by over 50% without compromising on functionality. In addition, hot water is a substantial contributor to energy consumption in homes built to current Part L energy regulations (homeperformanceindex.ie, 2023).
By reducing overall water consumption and offering Cold Start Technology on selected basin mixers, SONAS products can contribute to a reduction in household energy consumption in bathrooms.
Save 100,000 litres of water in your home every year:* With bathrooms accounting for a staggering 70% of household water consumption (The Water Forum, 2022), the specification of water-saving bathroom products becomes pivotal. SONAS are working to get the message out to homeowners that you can save 100,000 litres of water* in a family home by opting for the SONAS Unified Water Label certified products.
*Water saving calculations based on 4 users in a home with 3 bathrooms. This uses methodology from https://watercalculator.uk/calculator/
PROGRESS TO DATE
RIAI 2030 Climate Challenge: SONAS have partnered with the The Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI) to deliver a CPD course that demonstrates to members that the 2030 Climate Challenge Target of 75 litres of water consumption per person, per day, can be achieved by specifying water-saving products at the design phase. Achieving water targets contributes to green building certifications such as HPI, LEED or BREEAM.
Irish Green Building Council: As active members of the IGBC, SONAS uses this platform to promote sustainability in bathrooms and water-saving solutions.
KEY INITIATIVES 2024-2026:
Sustainable Packaging Strategy: Our Product Development Team will develop a Sustainable Packaging Strategy. By working closely with suppliers, reductions in waste packaging will be agreed. The target is to get to 90% recyclable packaging by 2026 on all SONAS products launched since 2022.
Supplier Code of Conduct: Our Product Development Team will develop a supplier code of conduct based on sustainability principles. We aim to achieve 100% compliance with our supplier code of conduct with Tier 1 suppliers by 2026. ESG performance monitoring will be required to carry out regular audits ensuring that suppliers adhere to the code of conduct.
Responsible Sourcing Policy: This will address environmental responsibility, supplier evaluation, and will incorporate an ESG questionnaire for supplier assessment. This will provide the basis for working collaboratively with suppliers to reduce carbon emissions in manufacturing.
Explore Lower-Impact Logistics: The impact of transport of products to be considered and lowerimpact alternatives to be explored both from suppliers to SONAS, and for onwards deliveries to customers. This will require the establishment of processes to collect and analyse data on logistics, including distance and weights of products.
4. INTEGRATED SUSTAINABILITY
In 2022 SONAS identified sustainability as a core value for the company. However, we do recognise that we have a journey to travel to improve our ESG performance and to embed sustainability in all aspects of our operations and activities.
Successful integration of sustainability at SONAS requires complete synergy across the business, from governance to reporting on SONAS’ initiatives externally. The goal is that the value of sustainability is embeded in all day-to-day operations at SONAS, and that ESG considerations are adopted in our business strategy and decision-making processes.
UN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
PROGRESS TO DATE
Award-winning Performance: SONAS are an industry leading organisation who have achieved Ireland’s Best Managed Company awards every year since 2019, achieving the Gold Standard in 2022 and 2023. Entrants to the programme, led by Deloitte Ireland, compete for the designation in a rigorous process that evaluates the calibre of their management abilities and practices in addition to the strategy, capability, innovation, culture and financial performance of their companies. This award is a testament to the hard work, dedication, and passion consistently exhibited by the entire SONAS team.
4. INTEGRATED SUSTAINABILITY
KEY INITIATIVES 2024-2026:
Environmental Training: Develop and deliver environmental training for all employees. Once established this will be delivered during employee induction. It will cover environmental impacts throughout SONAS’ value chain, promote behaviours to reduce environmental impacts, understand eco-friendly properties of SONAS products, and an overview of this Sustainability Strategy.
Policy Review Management: Complete review of all company policies on an annual basis and ensure that employees receive regular training on policies as required. We have partnered with external experts, Qualis Control Systems Ltd, to ensure our quality management systems are aligned with ISO 9001 certification, and remain current and compliant.
Training on Policies: Confirm employee understanding of policies during onboarding, particularly those listed in the employee handbook. Develop training specific to these policies for all employees, including refresher courses as required.
Risk Management: Identify and assess sustainability-related risks and opportunities. Develop a centralised risk register, including external and internal risks, likelihood, severity, and mitigation for each.
ESG Reporting: Progress on ESG actions will be reported on internally at a board level on a quarterly basis, and shared with employees at townhall meetings. The SONAS Sustainability Strategy 2024-2026, along with ESG highlights, will be published on the SONAS website.
Sustainability
WHAT’S NEXT?
The SONAS Sustainability Strategy 2024-2026 sets out clear objectives on our ambition to further improve our ESG Performance, underpinned by a robust materiality assessment process summarised under the 4 pillars.
1. Operating Environment
2. Supporting People
3. Responsible Production
4. Integrated Sustainability
To achieve these ambitious targets for 20242026, a collective effort will be required from all departments in SONAS. It will challenge our operations, and push us to develop new ways of thinking about our operations and our impact.
But this is the SONAS way. We like to raise the bar and we welcome these objectives and look forward to reporting on our 2024 achievements in 12 months’ time. By openly sharing our ESG objectives we will ensure that our improvements are prioritised and measured, delivering on what matters most.
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