FORR the Planet: Sustainability Interview Collection

Picture by Abhinav Sunil

Advanced organizations have to implement sustainability initiatives that reduce throughout a number of companies. To look deeper at one such group with numerous companies, we interview Kristin Edie, Vice President of Enterprise Sustainability at Hallmark about her management position and essentially the most impactful sustainability efforts at Hallmark throughout Hallmark Media, Crayola, and Hallmark Playing cards.

Function And Tasks

Abhijit Sunil: Please inform us extra about your position because the chief for sustainability at Hallmark, and your inner group.

Kristin Edie: I’m the Vice President of Enterprise Sustainability. Hallmark has a portfolio of companies together with Hallmark, Crayola, Hallmark Media, and Crown Heart. I work on the enterprise degree to set the environmental technique, targets and targets. As well as, if there are initiatives that cross a number of companies, my staff will take the result in implement these.  One instance is our provider engagement program, which incorporates suppliers of lots of our world companies and types.

Along with my staff working throughout the enterprise, we’ve got extra sustainability groups within the particular person companies. Whereas these groups don’t immediately report back to me, we associate collectively every day to ship the technique. This staff construction permits us to embed possession for sustainability throughout the particular person companies.  We really feel embedding enterprise possession is essential as a result of reaching our targets could require totally different actions in every enterprise. For instance, one focus space of our technique is our Product and Content material pillar, which entails redesigning bodily merchandise and packaging for Hallmark and Crayola. But at Hallmark Media, this similar objective means measuring the carbon footprint of film manufacturing to establish the important thing emissions drivers. Every enterprise could have some custom-made methods of creating our methods come to life, however we at all times collaborate throughout the companies to share concepts and greatest practices.

Most Impactful Sustainability Efforts

Abhijit Sunil: What are essentially the most impactful sustainability efforts you’ve undertaken inside Hallmark?

Kristin Edie: In 2022, we had our 2030 enterprise science-based goal authorized for greenhouse gasoline emissions discount. There are 4 key pillars of labor to ship this goal.

The primary pillar is Merchandise and Content material, which incorporates redesigning merchandise and packaging to make them extra sustainable and scale back their carbon footprint. We’re additionally working to extend the sustainability of film manufacturing at Hallmark Media.

The second pillar is Renewable Vitality. Our objective is to transition to renewable electrical energy throughout our world amenities.  We’re additionally asking our key suppliers to implement renewable electrical energy and vitality effectivity initiatives to do their half in decreasing emissions throughout our provide chain.

The third pillar is Sustainable Forestry. We all know forests are a vital sustainability consideration, and we’ve got had a dedication to accountable sourcing of paper and wooden for a few years.  After we launched our up to date technique, we didn’t wish to lose give attention to this space. So, we introduced this precedence into our new motion plan.

After which fourth is Transportation. Our objective is to cut back emissions from transporting our merchandise, in addition to these from our staff commuting to the workplace and our enterprise journey.

We have now been making nice progress towards our renewable vitality priorities.  This has been a significant journey because the idea of renewable vitality goes again into our historical past.  I just lately visited our first Crayola manufacturing facility, which started operation again in 1900, in Pennsylvania, the place Crayola nonetheless operates immediately.  Manufacturing operations at that first Crayola manufacturing facility have been powered by a waterwheel from the close by creek.  Since Crayola has at all times had this hyperlink to the facility of nature when it got here to manufacturing, we proceed that keenness for renewable vitality immediately.  For instance, in 2010, Crayola constructed a photo voltaic farm to assist energy the manufacturing plant. Then in 2020, Crayola transitioned to 100% renewable electrical energy in all of the US owned amenities.

Many leaders at Hallmark carry the identical ardour for renewable vitality to the Hallmark model. The Hallmark model started its renewable electrical energy journey in 2021 inside our distribution amenities. We just lately started buying renewable electrical energy, similar to photo voltaic and wind, for our Hallmark-owned amenities and workplaces globally.  We have now additionally submitted plans to construct a photo voltaic farm at our greetings manufacturing plant in Kansas.

From an impression standpoint, these renewable electrical energy initiatives have performed lots to cut back our scope 1 and scope 2 emissions. However furthermore, it has been a method to construct a tradition of sustainability inside our firm – to indicate our dedication to sustainability to our staff, clients, suppliers, and guests.

Provide Chain Decarbonization

Abhijit Sunil: You talked about provide chain being an enormous a part of your decarbonization technique. I’m assuming that with Crayola, Hallmark, and even in film manufacturing, provide chain is an enormous a part of the decarbonization efforts. How do you handle varied efforts throughout the provide chain and what has been essentially the most difficult and essentially the most impactful efforts you’ve taken thus far?

Kristin Edie: As you talked about, our provide chain is a crucial space of focus for us. Hallmark and Crayola have our personal manufacturing operations in the USA, wherein we use renewable electrical energy.  These operations fall inside our scope 1 and a pair of emissions. Nevertheless, we even have an exterior provide chain for uncooked supplies and a few completed merchandise, which is a part of our scope 3 emissions.

In October 2022, we launched a provider engagement program, the CARE program, to ask suppliers to hitch us on this journey by decreasing their environmental impression.  As a part of this program, we’re asking suppliers to measure their greenhouse gasoline footprints and set emission discount targets. We’re additionally encouraging suppliers to take actions similar to implementing vitality effectivity initiatives and transitioning to renewable electrical energy of their factories. The actions taken by our suppliers are essential as a result of their factories are a part of our greenhouse gasoline footprint. We, in flip, are a part of our clients’ footprints. Because of this all of us should take collective motion.

As well as, a minimum of certainly one of our suppliers has taken the initiative to implement the identical kind of program with their very own suppliers. That is very invaluable as a result of our provide chain emissions come from not simply our direct suppliers’ factories, but in addition from our suppliers’ suppliers.

Abhijit Sunil: What are the most important challenges in working with these suppliers?

Kristin Edie: An enormous problem is offering training. After we began, many suppliers had not measured their greenhouse gasoline footprint and have been solely beginning to find out about renewable vitality. Yearly we have to ask our suppliers to supply us with emission-related knowledge to trace our progress. The difficult half is reaching out to our suppliers to assemble knowledge yearly. And, for them, having the information essential to supply that knowledge. We periodically maintain conferences with suppliers to coach them about our CARE program, why we’re implementing it, and the way we monitor our progress on enhancing the sustainability of our provide chain with the information they supply. Yearly, we and our suppliers have gotten extra educated, however it is a continuous studying course of for everybody.

Sustainability Rules

Abhijit Sunil: What regulatory features are key for you at Hallmark? What reporting frameworks are you planning to report into and, contemplating you’re a non-public firm, how do you see rules similar to CSRD and the SEC proposal affecting your technique?

Kristin Edie: As a non-public firm, some rules focused towards public firms and their traders don’t apply to us. However globally, some rules being carried out do embody giant non-public firms. For instance, just lately, California and the European Union have each launched laws associated to emission reporting and local weather threat assessments, which embody giant non-public firms of their scope. It is necessary that every one firms monitor the fast-moving world laws in any respect ranges (nation, state, native) to make sure they’re compliant with rules that apply to their enterprise. You will need to have robust rigor round these processes and reporting.

As well as, there are rising legislative necessities for third get together verification audits of greenhouse gasoline footprints. Because of this, the rigor round sustainability reporting is turning into elevated to develop into nearer to monetary reporting.  These audits guarantee firms are compliant with the Greenhouse Fuel Protocol and their processes and knowledge are credible. With the elevated legislative give attention to performing local weather threat assessments, similar to TCFD, in companies, the partnership of sustainability with finance and threat administration is turning into extra essential. This permits firms to investigate and decide their largest monetary dangers due to the altering local weather.

Normally, when laws begins to require sure actions, similar to audits or threat assessments, this will create a brand new business commonplace. Subsequently, even when laws doesn’t apply to all firms, it’s nonetheless advisable for firms to watch evolving greatest practices.

Integration Of Sustainability Into Merchandise

Abhijit Sunil: How do you combine sustainability into varied Hallmark’s merchandise? How do you infuse sustainability associated metrics and experience into varied product traces?

Kristin Edie: Proper now, our main focus for product sustainability is on rising the recyclability of merchandise and packaging, utilizing extra sustainable supplies like recycled content material, and decreasing the amount of uncooked supplies used per product. All of those are key levers to cut back the environmental impression of our merchandise and packaging by decreasing their carbon footprint and rising circularity.

We do have software program to do product lifecycle assessments. We use this software program to check the emissions of a product or packaging answer earlier than and after the proposed redesign. Product sustainability to cut back greenhouse gasoline emissions is an space the place we’re studying and rising every single day.

Abhijit Sunil: Thanks, Kristin, on your invaluable time and insights!

Kristin: Thanks!